A Jewel in the Crown
by Mercury Gray
Summary: At the Island at the End of the World, King Caspian X comes to grips with his past and realizes what he needs to do to move ahead into his future: resolve this question of finding a queen. Post-Voyage of the Dawn Treader, CaspianxRamandu's Daughter
1. Chapter I

A Jewel in the Crown: A Prince Caspian Fanfiction.

Very well, here it goes- My PC fanfic. Keep in mind this is both movie _and_ book canon- much of this first chapter is taken directly from Lewis himself (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, HarperCollins Publishers, 1981) but is given in such a way that I've reworded a lot of it, and italics (as I've used in other stories) won't really work. Hopefully, however, it will be a fun ride.

So, without much ado, I give you the end of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the beginning of quite another story altogether.

* * *

Before them, beyond the pillars, there was the slope of a low hill. And now a door opened in the hillside, and light appeared in the doorway, and a figure came out, and the door shut behind it. The figure carried a light, and this light was really all that they could see distinctly. It came slowly nearer and nearer until at last it stood right at the table opposite them. Now they could see that it was a tall girl, dressed in a single long garment of blue. She was bareheaded, and her long hair hung down her back. And when they looked on her, they knew that before seeing her they had never known what true beauty meant. Some among them thought of the moon reflected on a still sea, and others thought of the dryads of old who were known to dance in the woods where no men walked, and still others called to mind the poem from the elder days which goes, if the scholars know it right,

"An Elven-maid there was of old,  
A shining star by day:  
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,  
Her shoes of silver-grey.

A star was bound upon her brows,  
A light was on her hair  
As sun upon the golden boughs  
In Narnia the fair."

Though the presence of the great lady seemed in a strange way to calm them, for they knew that Aslan would never permit one so beautiful to do anything evil or not right by his codes, it unsettled Caspian, for in her face he could see something of someone he had once loved- thought that time and that woman seemed very far away now.

When she spoke, the forest stood still to listen to her; even the trees stopped rustling their branches.

"Travelers who have come far to eat at this table, why do you not sit and rest yourselves, and avail of its hospitality?" she asked, her voice as wise as the sea itself.

No one seemed to have a voice to answer her. Finally, Caspian spoke. "We feared the food was poisoned, madam, and had cast our friends here into their present sleep."

"They have never tasted of it, Caspian, son of Narnia," the lady said mysteriously. "The food will bear no malice, for it comes from one who is also without malice." _How does she know my name?_ Caspian thought to himself, for no one had spoken to him or mentioned it while she had been within hearing.

"Please, then, Lady, tell us what has happened here," Lucy asked.

The lady turned to look at Lucy and smiled. "Seven years ago, Queen Lucy, there came a ship whose sails were rags and whose timbers were tired with voyaging. These men embarked the ship, along with many others, and sat down at this table with the intent to decide whether to continue or stay here. However, each disagreed on the course of action to be taken, and when out of anger they caught up the Knife of Stone which lies there on the table to fight each other with, the Lord of this Banquet sent a deep sleep upon them to punish them."

"Why did he punish them?" Eustace asked. "It's just a stone dagger."

"It was a thing not right for them to touch, Eustace Scrubb, a thing holier than the intention to which they meant to put it. Do you recognize it, Queen Lucy?" she asked, pointing to the weapon on the table. Lucy squinted at in, trying to remember, once, a very, very long time ago, a stone table on a moonless night, a lion's growl and a witch's cry–

"Why, that's the knife the White Witch killed Aslan with!" she exclaimed. The sailors and Caspian were all very much amazed, and each tried to peer over his comrade's shoulders to take a closer look.

"Indeed, Queen Lucy," spoke the lady. "It is the same. It was brought here to be kept in honor while the world lasts and travelers still seek this place."

The company pondered this for a moment, and finally Edmund spoke up. "Look here," he said. "I hope I'm not a coward – about the food, I mean—and I don't mean to be rude by refusing this lord's hospitality, but we've had a lot of queer adventures on this voyage of ours and we've found out the hard way a few times that things aren't always as they seem. When I look in your face I can't help but believe everything you say, but that's happened before with me and not always for the best. How are we to know that you're a friend to us and Narnia?"

The lady laughed, and smiled at Edmund. "But you cannot know, King Edmund. You can only believe me." Her smile seemed to be full of riddles, but then she spoke again. "If that is too much for you, think on this: who would keep such a token of evil as that dagger?"

Edmund looked at Lucy somberly. "It would only be…Aslan himself," Lucy said finally, thinking very hard. "And you yourself said, lady, that the Lord who sets this Table bears no malice. The only person I can think of like that is Aslan – and he certainly wouldn't poison us!"

"That is enough proof for me!" cried Reepicheep, and clambering onto the table, the mouse took up a goblet and walked it over to where Caspian sat. "If it please you, my lord, pour out a little of that wine. I would like to drink – to the lady, if she wills it."

Caspian poured a little of the wine into the cup, and Reepicheep lifted it to the lady in blue, who bowed her head in acknowledgement as he drank.

"I thank you, Lord Reepicheep, for your honor. But it is not my health alone that you should drink to, but also the health of your host."

Caspian nodded, and poured another cup of the wine, lifting it in toast. "To the Lord Aslan!" he said loudly, quaffing the wine. The lady took a cup of her own and mirrored the gesture.

"To the Lord Aslan."

Seeing there was no poison and no threat of enchanted sleep, the crew of the Dawn Treader fell to the food like a pack of starving travelers, with each man, in his turn, taking his cup and saluting the Lord Aslan with it before drinking.

"So, why does Aslan set this table?" Lucy asked the Lady, who did not sit and eat with them, but merely watched the proceedings serenely.

"It is his gift to those who come this far seeking his country, for he knows that only with true nourishment will a man reach what he desires of his journey here. Some call this island the World's End, for though the water will bear your boat further, this is the beginning of the end."

_Yes, I suppose it is the end,_ Caspian thought to himself, listening to Lucy and the lady, _the end of the journey and the end of our story. We've found the seven lords, and now it's a matter of getting home. But how?_

"Lady," he asked, interrupting the conversation, "How are we to dissolve the enchantment Aslan placed on Lords Revilian, Argoz and Mavramorn?"

The lady smiled at him, and the look made something inside Caspian shiver, though whether it was from fear or something else, he did not know. "It is not for you to dissolve, King Caspian. Aslan laid the enchantment, and Aslan alone can break it. But for that, you must ask the advice of my father."

"Your father? Who is he? And where?" Caspian, and the rest of the company, asked. The lady pointed to the door in the hillside from whence she had come; they could see it easier now, for while they had been talking and eating the stars had grown fainter and great gaps of white light had begun appearing in the grayness of the eastern sky. It was a man, dressed in the same blue as the lady wore, with a great silver beard that hung all the way to the floor.

"Caspian, Adam's Son," He said, opening his arms wide as if he were a father receiving his child after a long voyage. "Your coming has long been expected here. Come with me, and we will talk of what you need to know."

So Caspian went inside the house of Ramandu, the star and ruler of the Island at the World's end, and learned from him what was needed to break the spell Aslan had set on the last three Narnian lords.

* * *

Caspian watched the little boat bearing Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep out onto the horizon until they could be seen no more. His throat did not have a voice in it for giving orders- a simple hand gesture sufficed to have Lord Drinian order the ship to turn back for the Island of Ramandu.

The four newly awakened lords ( you will remember Rhoop was also left with his three sleeping companions) greeted him with much pleasure and heartfelt thanks for rescuing them from themselves and their terrible fate.

"Thank Aslan, not me," Caspian recommended. "It is by his grace that you were all restored."

He left the company to be alone for a while, the sadness of all of this almost too much to bear. First Lucy and Edmund had to leave again, and then- the lady! She reminded him so much of her. Thankfully, he had not seen Ramandu's daughter since they had returned to the Island; perhaps, if his luck held, they could leave again without seeing her again.

Ramandu joined him out on the balcony overlooking the sea, the sea breeze ruffling his beard a little bit, making him look like more and more of a traveler who has journeyed a great many miles in search of a great treasure, or a distant truth.

"Stay a little while longer, Caspian," Ramandu suggested. "Your men are tired, and I can see that your own heart, too, is weary. Rest here for a few days: The journey home is easier than the journey away from it."

"My advisors will be in an uproar if I am gone longer than expected," Caspian said. "War might start, and my people would suffer. I am sorry, but I cannot know what is going on at home, and without that knowledge, I cannot change my plans. I will set sail tomorrow afternoon, if my captain Lord Drinian reads the tides right."

Ramandu considered this, and then nodded. "There is a way you might know what goes on in the uttermost west, Caspian," he offered. The king turned to look at him, interested. "My daughter has the gift of Far-sight, a gift given to all young stars. Go to her tower at midnight, and watch the sun rise. She will be able to tell you how things fare in Narnia."

King Caspian thought about it for a moment and bowed. It would be for the best- and it would not hurt to know. "Thank you, Lord Ramandu. I will seek your daughter's advice in the morning," He said, leaving for his own chambers, his heart still very, very heavy.

* * *

Well, that's the end of that. The poem at the beginning of the chapter is from - you guessed it- JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The last line originally reads "In Lorien the Fair" but as we have no Lorien in Narnia (and I have yet to write a story connecting Middle Earth with the venerable lands beyond the Wardrobe) it had to be changed. Perhaps it was mistranslated in Caspian's time. ;)

And again, a great deal of the text in this chapter copyright Lewis Family, 1981.

* * *


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

* * *

The sky was still very dark when Caspian began climbing the stairs to the tower where Ramandu's daughter watched her cousins in the Heavens, but when he had reached the uppermost room, there was the faintest haze of sunlight on the horizon. Before Caspian could knock, the door was opened to him by the young woman Caspian recognized as her maid. She showed him inside, ushering him over to where her lady sat, gazing at the vast expanse of sea before them through a great arched window, nearly as wide as he was tall.

"Greetings, Caspian," she said, looking away from the window at him. "My father said you would seek my counsel this morning." She did not now look as she had the day before- her dress was made of silver, and bound with a girdle of cleverly fashioned stars, worked in silver and diamonds. Her hair was covered by a veil of white cloth, fastened to her brow by another circle of stars. In the early morning twilight, she looked like a queen- but a very different sort of queen than the one he was thinking of, much older and much, much wiser.

"Your father says you can see into the west, and tell me how things fare in my country," Caspian said, sitting down in the chair next to hers. She nodded, fixing her gaze serenely on the horizon and contemplating it awhile, her mouth occasionally showing the barest of smiles.

"Who would you have me look for?" she asked after a long silence, and Caspian considered this.

"The Lord Sevilian, my seneschal," he said, and she nodded, glancing at the horizon. _How would she know who to look for?_ Caspian wondered to himself, and then, after a brief pause, began, "He has dark hair down to his shoulders, and a limp…"

She held up her hand for silence, scanning the horizon keenly. "I have known the names of you and your councilors since you were babies, King. Long have I watched this horizon and your world- Ah! I have found him! He is worrying for your return, King, and for his wife, who is with child. He hopes the boy will have you for his godfather, and his own liege lord…he prays to Aslan for your return. Is there another?"

Caspian thought for a moment. "Lord Gabinus, the commander of my armies." There was a hot-head if he knew one – he perhaps would try to take power if the king was gone too long.

"He speaks of treason to his friends, who reprimand him for it," she said, eyes fixed on the slowly lightening scene outside the window. Then she smiled. "The friends remind him it was you who saved him from being a lowly sergeant at arms in a hill fort forever, and advise him not to repay your kindness with sedition," She added. "Is there another?" she asked again. "One more, before the sun is too high and I can no longer See."

Caspian considered, and then, tentatively, "Can you see beyond the Western world?" he asked, thinking of another person he would like to see again.

"What do you wish to see, King Caspian?" She asked him, breaking her gaze from the western horizon to look at him with a studious glance.

"Can you see into Lucy and Edmund's world?" he asked finally. Ramandu's daughter smiled and contemplated this.

"Perhaps, for a moment," she said, and looked back to the horizon. Now she was narrowing her eyes, trying to look into another world, which is the hardest kind of sight of them all. "Ah!" she exclaimed. Caspian was deathly silent, waiting for her message. "She is happy," She said finally, sitting back in her chair.

"I didn't –" Caspian began, and then stopped, looking at her. She was smiling. "You already knew," he accused.

Ramandu's daughter smiled. "Yes, Caspian, I already knew. I have watched your world for many, many years, and I know many things about many people that they do not know about themselves. And I know you loved Queen Susan very much. But the time for that love is over," she said abruptly, rising from her chair to pour two glasses of wine. "She was… with another," she added carefully, handing him the goblet.

"And she was happy," Caspian filled in the rest of the sentence, saddened by the sound of the words and their meaning.

"There are many young women who would gladly love you, Caspian. But your love for Queen Susan has blinded you to them. She has forgotten you; it will be best for Narnia if you forget her."

"And if I don't?" Caspian asked rebelliously, looking at her with a challenging spark in his eye. "If I don't forget her, what happens then?"

Ramandu's daughter laughed. "It is not my place to see the future, King Caspian. Stars older and wiser than me see to that. But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that your life will be a very sad one indeed. And Narnia," she began. Caspian looked at her, all ears. "Narnia will suffer greatly," She finished, raising her wine glass to her lips.

Caspian finished his wine, and then rose stiffly from his chair. The sun was risen now, and he could see his boat anchored down by the beach, with tiny men running to and fro, making preparations to leave.

"I thank you, Lady, for your counsel and your help," he said, setting down his goblet and making to leave.

"Aleybis," she said from behind him. Caspian turned and looked at her, confused. "My name is Lady Aleybis," She said.

Caspian bowed again. "Lady Aleybis, my thanks," he said, beginning down the stairs to the castle and his waiting ship.

* * *

_He counts the stars and calls them all by name. -- Psalms 147:4_

Well, now the star has a name. It doesn't mean anything in particular, because I made it up, although googling it comes up with a Spanish choral director and a footnote in a book in German, so maybe it's not as original as I thought. Still, fifteen search results- It can't be that common.

So that's chapter two- A little Susan/Caspian, a little hinting that that should stop…what did you think, all-important readers?


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

* * *

Caspian was confused. There was simply no other word for it. His heart did not know what to do now. Narnia was safe in his absence, but…he did not want to stay here! Aleybis…the name was like some sort of spell. It floated off the tongue, melted in the mouth like a sliver of ice. There was magic in her name, he knew it. And it made him restless.

He was still repeating the name to himself when Drinian found him, sitting on the beach contemplating the ocean and the Dawn Treader, which was almost ready to set sail.

"Aleybis?" Drinian asked, coming up beside his king and best friend. "What's that?"

"It's not a what, it's a who. Ramandu's daughter," Caspian explained.

"That's her name?" Drinian asked, impressed. "It's very pretty." After a moment, he added, "She's very pretty."

Caspian turned quickly to look at Drinian. "Why would you say a thing like that?" he asked.

"Because it's true!" Drinian defended, laughing a little. "Really and truly, she told you her name?"

"Why is that so interesting?" Caspian asked, just a little annoyed.

Drinian smiled. "A star's name is a sacred thing," he explained. "They never give them away lightly. Ramandu was telling me that many of the names we know stars by on Earth are not their right names at all. When a star tells you her name, it means she trusts you. Her name gives you power over her."

Caspian was puzzled by this. "Power?" he repeated.

"I think she wants you to be her friend," Drinian said quietly.

"Her friend?" Caspian was even more confused now. "I'm sure she has plenty of friends, stars and such. She wouldn't need me for a friend!"

"Caspian," Drinian said frankly, "She lives all alone on this island with only her father and her servants for company. I think she's lonely. You're the only person her age she's seen in hundreds of years – well, you would be her age if she weren't a star. The least we could do is stay a little while and talk with her."

"I wouldn't even know what to talk about!" Caspian said, scrambling for excuses now, something Drinian caught onto right away, having heard enough of it from his brothers and having done quite a bit of it himself.

"You could start by apologizing," Drinian suggested, standing up and dusting off his tunic.

"For what?" Caspian asked, starting after him.

"For behaving like a spoiled little boy this morning instead of a king," came the answer sagely from down the beach.

"How do you know about that?" Caspian asked his captain. Drinian, for whatever reason, didn't answer.

Caspian took a long walk on the beach, kicking up more sand than he probably should have, thinking about what Drinian had said. And when he felt like walking no further, he sat down to have a good think.

He supposed he had behaved a little juvenilely, when he thought about it. Susan was gone, and as she herself had said, she wasn't coming back. Aleybis was right; lingering over her would be bad for Narnia. With no marriage, there would be no heir, and with no heir, there would be a battle for succession that would uproot all of Narnia and all the peace he'd worked so hard alongside so many to build and maintain. He was resolved- when he returned home he'd begin searching for a wife immediately.

But before home, an apology was necessary. "Stop your preparations," Caspian called to Rhince. "We're not leaving today."

"Why not, my king?" Rhince asked him, coming up to talk to the young man. Drinian came up behind him, watching the conversation with interest.

Caspian took a deep breath and chose his words carefully. "I'm not ready to leave. Narnia will continue on without me for another week. I have the lady's word on that."

Drinian nodded in his official capacity, and then, with the mischievous grin reserved for friends talking to friends, asked Caspian quietly, "Did you and the lady have your talk?"

"No, not yet," Caspian admitted. Drinian rolled his eyes and gave a much exaggerated sigh.

"She might not be getting any older, but you're not getting any younger, you know!"

Caspian looked at Drinian incredulously and shoved him very unceremonially into a nearby stand of beach grass. "Drin, you're terrible," he shouted behind him, walking back up to the castle to make things right with Aleybis.

She was sitting in the solar beneath the great Watch Tower where she had met him that morning, embroidering a tapestry of some kind, a long, white banner that folded into a very tall and tidy pile beside her. She looked up from her work as he tapped on her door, and gestured her maid to let him enter.

"I came to apologize for being…less than courteous this morning," Caspian said. "It was childish of me, and I hope you will forgive me for it."

"All is well between us, Caspian. I know what it is like to lose a loved one. And you, of all people, know what loss feels like very well," Aleybis's fingers moved deftly with her embroidery needles, the bright colors telling a story of some kind. "Please, sit," she said, pointing to the chair her maid had silently 

brought to where she herself was sitting. "Shall I call for some refreshment?" she asked. "Wine, perhaps? Fruit? I know you were not at the noon meal."

"I am a little hungry," Caspian admitted, and the maid fluttered silently off to fetch food and drink for her lady. Aleybis continued to work, her hands not slowing. "What are you working on?" Caspian asked after a few minutes of silence, suddenly very interested in what held the lady's attention so fully.

"It is the chronicle of your world, Caspian, all that I have seen of it. Give me a few moments as I finish this panel, and I will show it to you," she said, glancing up for only the barest of moments to smile at him before returning to her work.

Caspian sat back in his chair, momentarily distracted by the return of the maid, who laid out a veritable feast on the long cabinet along the wall and loaded a plate for him. He ate contentedly, not aware of how hungry he had really been, and was completely consumed by his meal until Lady Aleybis said "There!" and laid aside her needle, cutting the thread at the end of her embroidery.

The scene she had just finished was a familiar one – two figures, one a woman, sitting and looking out a window onto a blue sea. The man, he noticed, was wearing a tunic remarkably similar to the one he had on now, with dark hair and a sword at his side. "That's us," he said, "From this morning."

Aleybis nodded. "I thought it was a good story to add to my cloth," she said, drawing the rest of the banner into her lap. "Here," She said, pulling the cloth to the right length, "is when you defeated your uncle's armies at Beruna, and here is where you were crowned king."

Caspian laid the plate of food aside and glanced at the little figures of himself- on a horse, sword in the air, leading a charge alongside a figure in a red surcoat with a red shield, and then again on a throne, wearing his crown, with four figures alongside him. He smiled, touching the figures at the memory. Lucy would have liked to see this, Caspian thought to himself. "What does it say here?" he asked, pointing to the text that ran along the top of the tapestry, pricked out in a text he could not read.

"Here Caspian and Peter Adam's Son won at Beruna, and the Earth rejoiced for them," Aleybis read. "Thus it would read in the common tongue. It is written down here in the tongue of the elder days, the language the Deep Magic was written in," She explained.

"So none but you can read it?" Caspian asked with a hinting smile.

"Perhaps," Aleybis said, a small laugh in her voice. Caspian returned to the tapestry.

"What else is here?" He asked, and Aleybis smiled, pulling up more of the folded fabric, going farther back in the narrative. "Here is when the Telmarines first came to Narnia," she said, pointing to bundles of figures alighting from boats. "And here is your birth," she said, pointing farther along the banner to two figures embracing each other, a baby between them.

Caspian pulled the tapestry section closer and studied the silken figures of his parents, touching them with reverent hands. "I never really knew them," he admitted sadly. "I'll never know what they thought of anything I ever did."

"They were so happy to have a son, Caspian," Aleybis said. "Your father—I'll never forget his face—ran into his council chambers and hugged every man there, friend or foe, shouting, I have a son! My heart leapt to see him so happy. Those moments are the ones I treasure to see- not the wars or the battles won. There are always more battles, but not always more joy."

Caspian pulled the tapestry further along, the next figures horrifying him – a bearded man pouring poison in his father's ear, his mother's body laid out for burial, her arms crossed across her chest. Another woman, with red hair and a pinched face, stood by the bearded man, holding the little figure he knew was he. His aunt and uncle. The only parents he'd really ever known. He turned back to the figures of his parents at his birth, touching the figures again as if that might somehow bring them back to life. A tear fell down his cheek, landing on the white cloth near his mother's head.

"Your parents loved you very much, Caspian," Aleybis said. "That much I know for certain."

"Thank you," Caspian said, wiping his eyes quickly; no king likes have others see him cry. "That was the greatest gift I've ever received." He looked at the banner once more, and then handed it back to her.

"Perhaps after dinner we could discuss it more?" Aleybis suggested, and Caspian nodded, rising from his chair.

"I would like that very much," he said, bowing to her. Aleybis bowed her head and watched him leave.

"My lady," whispered the maid, "Has Aslan not told him?"

"Peace, Orissa. Lord Aslan works in mysterious ways; he cannot riddle out all of Caspian's problems for him. Some he must find out the answers to himself."

Orissa shook her head and went back to her work. As she left, she heard her lady humming something- a song she'd never heard before.

"He came by wind and wave,

breaking a path to save

his father's vassals true,

bring them to serve him.

And when he landed here,

on this our island dear,

we counseled him to sail

to the world's rim…"

* * *

That poem bit is from my other C/RD fic, Ramandu's Daughter. It's only a portion of the poem I wrote from her perspective about the events in Narnia from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe through the Silver Chair.

I hope this meets everyone's expectations…


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

A/N: There's going to be a reference in this chapter you're not going to understand unless you've read my other Narnia fanfic The Naming of Rhindon Wolfsbane. It's about a legend I've made up about the Mountain Queen- those of you who've read the story will recognize it.

I know there's a few people who have this story on Story Alert who** haven't reviewed**. Please tell me **what you like so much about this story** that you want to know when there are new bits of it!

_I enjoy hearing why and how I entertain you guys!_

* * *

After dinner, Caspian journeyed once more into Aleybis' chambers, now bright with the torchlight illuminating the tapestries and rugs which covered the stone walls and floors of the room. He had not noticed before how intricate they were, and stopped to study the pattern of the hunt that graced the floor, waiting for Aleybis.

"It was a gift to my father from the Lord Aslan," Aleybis said, emerging from a side door that must have lead to her bedroom. "In his time he was a great hunter, and rode with the Celestial Hunt at the Mountain King's side."

"The Mountain King?" asked Caspian, looking up at her. It seemed every time he saw Aleybis she was more beautiful than before; now wearing a kirtle of seafoam green, she looked like a river spirit, one of the Naiads of old, her hair strung with tiny pearl stars.

"Do they not tell you of the Mountain King in Narnia?" Aleybis asked as she and Caspian sat down.

"I have heard of the Mountain Queen, my lady, but never the Mountain King."

"Ah, the Mountain King is the Queen's Brother, the Moon who rides his great white chariot across the sky hoping to catch a glimpse of his sister, whom he will not be reunited with until the end of time. So great is his sorrow that every month he wanes down to a sad shadow of a man, when Aslan breathes courage into him and allows him to continue for another month."

"How sad, to be parted from your sister for all eternity like that," Caspian said, looking at the carpet once more. "Why do all his retainers cry?"

Aleybis sighed, and glanced at the carpet. "You have heard that the Mountain Queen's court is full of light and laughter, and is a place of great joy; At her brother's court it is not so. He is called the Sorrowing King, as she is called the Laughing Queen, and all his courtiers share his grief. You have seen his huntsmen- they are the shooting stars."

"Forgive me my ignorance on these matters, my lady," Caspian said, looking up at her. "Your instruction has been most interesting -- I knew little of the doings of stars before my sojourn here."

"Few do," Aleybis said with a smile. With a probing, thoughtful look, she asked, "What did you know?"

"Oh, the constellations, and their movements, a little divination, things like that."

"Divination!" Aleybis gave a dismissive laugh. "Do you set much store by such things, Caspian?"

"It was before I won my first great victory at the battle of Beruna that my tutor showed me Tarva and Alambil waiting to align. He said it was a great portent, and so it was; I have trusted the stars enough after that," Caspian offered, a little put out that she would dismiss him so.

"Align…" Aleybis repeated, smiling as though she knew something he did not. "Humans know very little of the stars, Caspian, if that is your story. Lord Tarva and Lady Alambil are lovers—when they kiss (that is to say, align, in your language) good fortune comes from their happiness to all who seek it." She looked at Caspian, who looked rather put out, and smiled consolingly at him. "But that is star lore from the stars themselves, and I would not expect you to know of it."

"Why would they kiss?" Caspian asked penetratingly, thinking hard on this. "Tarva is Lord of War and Victory and Alambil lady of Peace: surely they cannot abide one another!"

"Quite the opposite, Caspian! Peace cannot exist without war, and war cannot exist without peace. Without light, we cannot have darkness. Without truth, we cannot have falsehood. Everything needs its opposite to survive." She looked at him and smiled in what might have been a mischievous manner, one more suited to a young Telmarine lady rather than the Daughter of a Star. "Even men," She added.

Caspian looked at her and laughed. "I thought you said you could not see the future," he accused, and Aleybis shook her head.

"I cannot – but that does not mean I do not know a few universal truths about humans. If your kingship is to be truly great, you must have a queen. Thus it was in the beginning days of Narnia, thus it was during the reign of the High King, and thus it must be with you."

"So you've reminded me already," Caspian said, a little sullenly. "Well, you watch my world- Have you got someone in mind?" he asked quickly, searching her face. Aleybis laughed.

"Lady Ermalinde?" she asked coyly, and Caspian rolled his eyes, knowing with the way she asked that she had to have been joking.

"She's a little old for me," he said levelly, and Aleybis laughed again; Ermalinde was probably old enough to be his mother, or maybe even his grandmother- no one at court knew her real age.

"Lady Merelde, then," she said, still wearing the same smile.

"I do not think lady Merelde would make a good queen," Caspian assured her. Merelde was well known in three kingdoms to be one of the silliest creatures alive, and even if he had suggested it, his councilors might have insisted he die childless if that was the only other option. He couldn't help watching her smiling face with fascination; somehow, it made him happy to see her smile. "Chose another," he dared her, and Aleybis thought for a moment.

"Serilde!"

"Too surly."

"Audfis?"

"Too tall."

"Gussa, then!"

"Too…" Caspian was trying to think of a nice way to put this. "Too nice," he finally decided.

Aleybis laughed again. "You are very selective in your taste in women, King," she accused him, walking over to the window.

"Would you have me be otherwise?" Caspian asked, looking at her, standing at the window looking out on the dark sea beyond the castle. "Narnia needs a good queen to help me govern. As you yourself reminded me," he added.

"Yes, I suppose I did," Aleybis reflected. Much of her nobility that had so touched Caspian at their first meeting at Aslan's Table seemed to have been put away, like an outer garment in storage for the winter, and she did not seem so stately now, nor quite as imposing.

"Who would _you_ have me marry, Lady Aleybis?" Caspian asked, wondering very much what she would say.

There was a pause as she considered this, and then, after much consideration, she said, "A… foreign princess would be best, or a foreign lady. Too oftentimes have I seen a country confused and divided when a queen is brought up from the ranks of the nobles. Make an alliance with your marriage, and make Narnia more powerful."

"Have you seen a lady in Calormen or Archenland that I should consider, then? I have few others to ask who have your expertise in these matters," Caspian said, rising from his chair and striding over to where she stood at the window, hooking his hands into his belt and standing a bit away from her to gaze at the stars and the sea.

"I do not watch those lands as I watch Narnia," Aleybis said finally, and somehow, her voice was sad. "I would not know their ladies as I know the ladies of your court."

They stared for a while at the stars, and Caspian asked something that had been troubling him greatly as he had been watching her and the night sky.

"Do you miss being a star, Aleybis?"

Aleybis glanced at him, and he could see that she did indeed look very sorrowful for one who had moments ago been so happy and carefree. "I would not know enough to remember anything of what it is like to live in the heavens. My father fell to earth when I was merely a little twinkle of a star, and that was many, many years ago."

She turned back to look at the window, as if she might fly away to join the heavens. "If I lived there still, I might have found a lover, like the Lady Alambil found Lord Tarva, and waited for the intersections of our paths with great joy, or joined the court of the Sorrowing King and followed his hounds across the sky. I suppose it is a sad life, but living here is more sad, I think. Here I am alone, and have no real companions to speak of."

"I hope you will consider me a friend, Aleybis," Caspian said, stepping forward and putting his hand on her own; her skin was cool with the nighttime breeze, and for a moment, she let his hand linger there.

"I thank you, Caspian, for your kindness. But it is late, and I must go to bed. Farewell."

"I will…see you tomorrow?" Caspian asked, and Aleybis paused at her door.

"I do not know." And with that she was gone. Caspian walked back to his rooms a good deal happier than he'd been in several days, though he couldn't say why, and went to sleep with lovely dreams of beautiful maidens and castles filled with laughing stars made of silver, singing and making merry all night long.

* * *

The Opposition Thought Experiment (for lack of a better term) that Aleybis gives to Caspian is taken in part from Frank Herbert's Dune, which begins,

"_To attempt an understanding of Muad'Dib (the main character) with first understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens, is an attempt to know truth without first knowing falsehood. It is an attempt to see light without first knowing darkness. It cannot be." _

For those of you who've never read the Dune books, start. They're really amazing books. They are the JRR Tolkien work of the sci-fi realm; very detailed, and very extensively imagined.


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V

This chapter has given me a lot of grief after many insightful reviews from you, my lovely readers, so I apologize if it's not up to snuff. I wrote it, I changed it, I had a better idea and then the changes were too drastic and I couldn't change it back. This is why we save in drafts…I should know this…

* * *

"You never told me of your parents," Caspian said the next morning as he and Aleybis took breakfast together on a terrace overlooking the sea. The morning air was chilly, and she was wrapped in a great robe made from the fur of what she assured him was a sky-bear, which was a brilliant, sparkling white owing to the amount of star-dust it collected in its fur.

"Well, you've met my father. Why should I tell you about him?" Aleybis asked, turning to her toast.

"What about your mother?" Caspian asked, dragging his chair closer to her. "Even stars must have mothers."

Aleybis set down her plate and sighed. "I did not know her well. No one did- not even my father. She was a Dryad, in the Narnia-Before-Narnia, and one night, while she was dancing with her sisters, my father was so taken with her, he shot down to earth and made love to her. He was, of course, quite dashing in those days, as all stars are, and she fell in love with him. After a very long while, she called him back, and gave him me, his daughter."

"Wait," said Caspian, having tried to riddle something out and failed. "The Narnia-before-Narnia?" he asked, very much confused.

"The Narnia you know is only a copy of a much greater plan, Caspian, which dwells in the uttermost east, in Aslan's country. When your Narnia was created by Aslan, the Narnia-Before-Narnia, (or so my father tells me) was swept into it, as Aslan will sweep Narnia-Now into Narnia-as-it-Should-Have-Been at the end of time."

"This is all very confusing," Caspian admitted.

"I find it is, too," Aleybis added, sympathetically. "But back to my story. Where was I?"

"Rejoining your father in the sky?" Caspian tried to recall.

"Ah, yes." She took a sip from the warm wine and continued. "I was not much of a dryad, my mother said, and told him that I much preferred looking at the sky to staying inside my tree as I was supposed to at night. It was the sky in my blood, she said. So she bid my father take me up into the sky with him, to be a star there, and that was where we stayed, in his Palace, until he reached the age of his Renewal and he fell from the sky."

Caspian felt very sad, and very much a fool and a terrible person for asking, and did not say much else for a long time. It was Aleybis who spoke next, and her voice was again full of melancholy.

"That is why I watch Narnia- to find my mother again. But I fear that she is gone, to Aslan's country or another far place, and that I will never see her again."

"Could you not ask Aslan to find her?" Caspian asked, curious himself. Aleybis shook her head.

"I dare not," she confided. "He has been kind and generous to me in leaving me guardianship of his Table, but I dare not ask him for more; if you have Need of a thing, Aslan will provide it, but Wanting is quite another matter altogether."

"Suppose you were to go back to Narnia, to find her?" Caspian suggested, tucking into his breakfast.

"I would never find her," Aleybis reasoned. "Narnia is a very vast place, and I know that the dryads have been asleep there now for many years – since the Telmarines invaded. She would not be found unless someone were to wake all the trees first, and that is nigh impossible. And even if they were woken, her tree might not still be standing. No, better to leave it. No use searching for what cannot be found. Now I watch out of – how might you say it?—habit. "

"So you lived in Narnia?" Caspian asked. All this was very complicated, especially for a young man who was not tutored in his history as fully as he should have been as a boy.

"I lived in the Narnia-before-Narnia, which is not quite the same. I gather it is a little more civilized now," Aleybis said. "It was a beautiful country. Perhaps, one day, I will go back and see what has become of it all." She hung her head and looked away, out over the ocean where the gulls were racing for fish. She shook her head as if to clear it, and then, draining her wine cup, said, "But these are sad things, and not meant for beautiful mornings. Let's talk of something else."

"Your banner," Caspian said, pulling something out of thin air. "How long have you been working on that?"

"Ages," Aleybis said seriously, and Caspian did his best to give her a withering look.

"Truly, how long?"

Aleybis thought for a moment. "Since before Queen Jadis – the White Witch – began her rule over Narnia."

Caspian marveled for a moment. "Why, that's nearly…" He tried to remember everything Doctor Cornelius had told him about ancient Narnian history. "Two thousand years!" He realized.

"I am nearly five thousand years old, but I am very young by star standards," Aleybis confided in him. "My father has been in the sky since before Narnia or even Narnia-Before-Narnia was created, and has more practice at it than me. And I am, when it comes down to it, a very poor star as well. Father says 

that it is the earth in my blood, and that when I am older I will find the Light in me, but like all young stars, I am impatient," she said with a small chuckle.

"Well, you look a very good five thousand," Caspian said fairly, which made her smile even more. "And I think you are enough of a star to impress poor sons of Adam like myself."

Aleybis looked askance at him, her eyes interested. "Do I impress _you_, Caspian?" she asked candidly, and Caspian grasped for an answer.

"Well, what I meant to say is…that is…You impressed Drinian, and the others," He managed.

The answer seemed to suit Aleybis. "Ah, well, that is not quite the same. I am satisfied enough with that." She looked out at the sea again, thinking about something. "Shall we go for a walk today, you and I? You have seen precious little of the island, and Drinian tells me you plan to stay another few days. I would be a very poor hostess if I did not show you my home."

"I think I would like that," Caspian said.

"It is decided, then. After breakfast, I will show you sights you have never seen before," Aleybis said, rising from the table, "And are hardly likely to ever see again."

After breakfast had been adjourned, Caspian retired to his chambers to dress for riding. When he was finished, a servant appeared outside his door to take him to the stables, where Aleybis was waiting with a mount for Caspian – a white unicorn, its horn glinting in the morning sun.

"So, what shall I expect to see on this sojourn? Dragons, perhaps? Phoenix?" Caspian asked as they leisurely trotted into the woods along the winding path.

"I am taking you as far inland as it is possible to go, Majesty," Aleybis said. "Who really knows what we will see?" she pronounced mysteriously.

For a while, the wood rose on and on, and Caspian observed the path began to wind uphill. Occasionally there were rustles in the undergrowth, but no fantastic creature of any size or ilk seemed to want to show itself.

Finally, the woods opened out, and they came to the top of a very high ridge, looking down into a valley filled with green grass. There was a thundering of hooves, and Aleybis pointed along the ridge to the other side of the valley. "Look."

A great herd of the biggest stags Caspian had ever seen was coursing down into the floor of the valley, their bodies glistening curiously in the mid-morning sun. "Their horns are made of gold," Aleybis pointed out. "A special blessing from Lord Aslan to the Kine of the Uttermost East. He hunts no other. Come, we will talk to them. Here is their leader now. Good morrow, Lord Uriel!" Aleybis called, and the greatest stag among them pulled away from the herd, cantering to meet them.

"Good Morrow, Lady Aleybis. Do you hunt today? My nephew is most anxious that he should have a chance to grace your table," The stag said, his voice deep and powerful. On his forehead, Caspian could see a great green jewel was set, making him look quite lordly indeed.

"No, not today, my lord. My friend King Caspian here is visiting from the Uttermost West, and I have promised to show him a little of our island and its wonders."

"Greetings then to you, King Caspian," The stag said, bending a foreleg and dipping his antlers towards the ground, an equine kind of bow. "Peace and joy on your journey. You have no better guide to the Island than the lady here."

"Thank you," Caspian said, bowing his head in return. Lord Uriel bowed once more to Lady Aleybis and galloped back to his folk, who were still moving towards on the grass on the other side of the valley.

"He is a great leader," Aleybis said. "And a great warrior -- I watched when he fought his brother and his best friend for the Leading Jewel. It was a sight to see."

"The great green emerald he wears?" Caspian asked as they began walking their mounts along the ridge. Aleybis nodded. "Why did he say his nephew wished that you would hunt?"

"It is considered among the Kine the greatest honor and the noblest fate to grace our dinner table- only the best are hunted, and only the strongest and quickest are really a match for me or my huntsmen. It is a race, really, and the Kine at the end do not let us win easily. To die without fighting is a dishonor to them. If we see the stag is hurt, we do not pursue him. When he has died, we take all that we can from his body and commend his spirit into Aslan's country," Aleybis explained.

"In Narnia, we do not eat the beasts that talk. It is considered a great dishonor to do so," Caspian said.

"There are many different kinds of honor, I think," Aleybis mused. "Warriors in armies chose to die in battle; the Kine are no different. But come, enough of that – we still have much of the island to see," She said, spurring her unicorn into a gallop and going around the valley's rim.

* * *

I had so much fun writing the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter VI

* * *

She showed him the hidden lakes where the inland mermaids dwelled, a far fairer race than their sea-going kin. Far out in the mountains she pointed out the aeryies of the Phoenix and stopped to introduce him to the resident dragon, a wise and book-learned fellow named Deurois who was very well-versed on the subject of castle-building. They had a long and pleasant chat on Caspian's plans to rebuild some of the constructions in Narnia to the way they were back in the Golden Age and the dragon promised to send some plans he had for the original Cair Paravel castle back to the ship for Caspian to take back to Narnia with him.

When they left Deurois' cave, Aleybis bid Caspian be very silent as they made their way through a rocky path through the mountains. "If they are feeling sociable today, we will perhaps meet the Petryads," Aleybis whispered.

"Petryads? Are those some type of nymph?" Caspian asked. He had heard of dryads and naiads before, of course, but petryads, it sounded, were something completely different.

Aleybis did not answer him; instead, she pulled her unicorn to a halt, peering intently into the rocks which lined the path. "Elazur, I know you're hiding from me," she called out loudly, and for a moment, the pathway was completely silent. Then, before Caspian's eyes, the rocks and boulders began to move, shuddering in their places as if they meant to roll down and crush them. The King was convinced Aleybis had started an avalanche, but she remained perfectly calm as the rocks began to roll down the hillsides.

"Shouldn't we be moving?" Caspian asked, watching the biggest of rocks bear down on Aleybis.

"It's a game," Aleybis said, watching the large rock intently. It was gaining on her, picking up speed, it was going to crush her!

"Aleybis, move!" Caspian shouted at her, but she did not hear him- she was smiling broadly, watching this damnable rock! He wanted to spur his horse away, but he couldn't- why should she die while he lived?

And suddenly, it wasn't – it was a man, with grayish skin and stringy dark hair, well muscled and brawny in the shoulders. "You're getting better," he said by way of greeting to her. "Though I can't say as much for your friend. Bit of a mudling, is he?" he asked derisively, giving Caspian a look-over that clearly indicated what he thought of him. Caspian let out the breath he'd been holding in and tried to wipe the look of abject terror off his face.

"Now, Elazur, watch your tongue. He's never seen a Petryad before," Aleybis said serenely. All the rocks around them were transformed to human form, great, stocky men and wild looking women, glaring gravely at Aleybis and their leader. Beside them, Aleybis looked positively radiant with her fair skin and golden hair.

"Never seen a Petryad?" Elazur asked, affronted. "What sort of strange country do you come from, then, mudling?"

"From Narnia, across the sea, Elazur," Aleybis said for Caspian. "And he is a king with the blessing of Aslan himself, my fine rocky fellow, so you would do your best to stop calling him 'mudling.' In fact, he is one of the bravest men I know, under most circumstances," Aleybis confided, looking at Caspian with a smile. Caspian frowned back; he hated surprises, especially of the near-death nature. "And he is my friend," she finished. _Really?_ Caspian asked himself. _If she was my friend, wouldn't she have told me about the petryads being rock people?_

That seemed to change things- Elazur got rid of his frown and settled for a much less angry look. "Well, if he's your friend, then I'll treat him well. Welcome to the Island at the World's end, King, from the Monolith of the Petryads," Elazur said, holding up a large platter sized hand for Caspian to shake. Caspian shook, almost immediately regretting it when he found that most of the blood had been squeezed from it.

"We will dine with you for nuncheon," Aleybis announced, something that seemed to please Elazur very much, for he clapped his hands together (an action that elicted a sound much like a rockslide) and helped the lady off her horse.

"You couldn't have told me?" Caspian hissed in her ear as they were escorted inside.

"I thought it would more interesting not to," Aleybis said with her mischeviously superior look. Caspian growled.

"You made me look like a fool!" He injected angrily, still hissing.

"Well then, make up for it with your doubtless superb manners," Aleybis suggested, going on a head of him to leave him to seethe for a while in peace.

"By the Lion, she's impossible," Caspian said to no one in particular, following Elazur and Aleybis down a long narrow passage inside the mountain.

The rock spirits, it seemed, lived as boulders on the mountain sides but also, when it came down to it, did a little bit of mining themselves and built great halls of stone underneath the mountains as well, for entertaining guests like the Lady Aleybis.

"This is a very fine hall," Caspian said, looking at the intricate carvings on the walls. "I would venture to say that the dwarfs have nothing finer in my land."

"Dwarfs?" asked Elazur suspiciously. "Filthy, stinking murderers, the lot of them. Have nothing to do with dwarfs, your majesty. They're a rotten people."

Caspian was about to raise his voice to answer back when Aleybis laid a hand on his arm. "To the Petryads the Dwarfs are murderers- they break down rock and stone without regard for the spirits within. They regard dwarfs the way dryads regard foresters: as a menace. That is why there are no Petryads in Narnia, and no Dwarfs on this Island."

Caspian swallowed his comments and nodded grimacingly. Part of being a good guest was agreeing with everything your host said, his uncle had sometimes told him. _Especially if he has the power to crush the life out of you, _Caspian thought to himself_, _shaking his hand a little and wincing at the thought.

A great stone table was laid out with seats and benches for many of the petryads present, with a great carven stone seat at the end of the table for the Monolith himself. Caspian and Aleybis were invited to sit nearest the chief, and Caspian watched in fascination as nuncheon was served.

The meal started off with a salad made from a mixture of greens and onions Caspian couldn't name and a rather interesting moss that was curiously salty and added a great deal of flavor, and was followed with some overdone meat served with bread as hard as…well, rocks. Caspian tried biting into it and found after nearly chipping a tooth that he should leave rock food to the rock people, and watched woefully as the whole table of Petryads chomped contentedly away at their meal while his own stomach, now empty, gurgled unhappily.

Contenting himself with a long series of cupfuls of the excellent beer the Petryads brewed from birchroots, he listened to Aleybis and Elazur discussing a number of subjects, ranging from the state of the passes this time of year to the amount of rain they were getting. It was all impossibly boring to Caspian and made little sense, but he was forced to seriously attend to the conversation when it turned to him.

"So what's your reason to coming to the End of the World, boy?" Elazur asked, biting into a chunk of bread. _Boy?_ thought Caspian to himself. Well, it was a step up from being called mudling. He'd take small favors in all disguises at this point.

"I was seeking the lost seven lords of Narnia," Caspian said. "They were exiled by my uncle for being loyal to my father, and have been gone for many years."

"Not a very nice man, your uncle?" Elazur asked, and Caspian shook his head.

"He killed my father- his brother – in order to take the crown."

"And you won it back," Elazur said, nodding in approval. "I take it you killed him in revenge?"

"No," Caspian replied, and the Monolith frowned at him. "His own people killed him, blamed me, and then started a large battle that I won," he elaborated. The Monolith gave a sharp nod, smiling in his gruff way.

"Only way to take a crown, boy – show the others you mean business by it. And you're married, of course? Plenty of little kings to be running around soon, eh?" He asked, hinting.

Caspian looked down at his (still very full) plate, a little bit embarrassed. "Actually, I'm…I'm not. Not yet, at least. I wanted one final adventure before I settled down," he said, nodding at his own lie.

"Well, you must marry soon, boy, or all the good ones will be taken. How about Aleybis, here? She'd make anyone a fine bride – 'specially for a king."

Aleybis laughed lightly, and Caspian could see the suggestion unnerved her, too. "I am sure there are much better choices for King Caspian in his own country," she suggested, cutting in before Caspian had a chance to respond. "And besides, Elazur, if I were his queen, I would not have the chance to talk with you," she added, smiling brilliantly at the petryad.

* * *

Kind of a short chapter, but the next one's a lot longer, so you'll just have to wait till friday for that one...

Mudling: n. A derogatory term used by Petryads to describe someone they find either stupid (from muddling, to be confused about something) or simply an outsider. Petryads do not like mud, as they consider dirt to be the remains of Petryads who were too cowardly to remain boulders.

Elazur was so much fun to write, mainly because he's just…mannerless!

If you want some idea of what I think a petryad looks like, go google 'gray Hulk'. Or go see the new Hulk movie and imagine Edward Norton in gray instead of green; I hear it's good.

OH! almost forgot. My new freind Mira (she's vera- crystal on this site) drew a picture of Aleybis! It's up on her deviantart page, and if you search Aleybis in the deviant art search engine, you should find it. Go check it out and leave some comments for her.

_:whispers_: Maybe if enough people comment she'll color it for me...

Reviews, please? If I lived near you, I'd bake you cookies for reviewing! Alas that the internet puts me in countries halfway across the world where even shipping cookies would be impossible.


	7. Chapter VII

Chapter VII

This is the chapter where things start to get dicey.

Yes, that's right. Dicey.

* * *

They made their goodbyes to the Petryads and continued on through the mountains, catching the path back to Ramandu's castle. "They may be a very coarse sort of people," Aleybis was saying, "But they are loyal, when rocks meet hard places, as they say, and very respectful once you've earned it. When I said that you were my friend, Elazur understands that to mean that you can be his friend as well. They're very traditional like that."

"Do you dine there often?" Caspian asked.

"Yes," said Aleybis. "It is a way for me to understand the inhabitants of this island and their needs. You must do something like it at home in Narnia," she indicated.

"I do hold court every month for my people to voice their concerns and bring petitions to me," Caspian said.

"But that is not enough!" Aleybis exclaimed. "Think on this, Caspian- the concerns and petitions you hear in court are only a small number of the many that your people must have. They are the petitioners who have the time and the money to come to your castle at Renevulte or Cair Paravel. The field is narrowed still further by your ministers, who chose only certain problems for you to hear because of their importance, letting the small problems fall by the wayside."

"But surely if the problems are small," Caspian justified, "I as king should not have to deal with them. There are marshals and shririffs who also mete out the King's Peace."

"Sometimes it is the direct concern of the monarch himself that best solves small problems," Aleybis put in strongly. "If you show that you are there to mediate the dispute over who the land belongs to, people will know you care about them, and they will respect you. So when a disgruntled general decides to raise a coup against you, the people will take your side because you took thiers."

"Hopefully it will never come to that," Caspian said awkwardly, laughing a little.

Aleybis looked coldly at him. "It is no laughing matter, Caspian, and has been the ruin of kings far older and wiser than you." She spurred her unicorn on ahead of him as they came out of the woods and back to the castle, leaving Caspian a lot to think about that afternoon.

But the more he thought about it, the more it made him angry – she wasn't a king, wasn't even the daughter of a king. The idea that she should tell him what to do festered like a sore in his mind. What did she know about government, about ruling? Nothing! She talked with her rock folk and had tea with dragons, but that didn't mean anything, any poor sot could do that. They'd only known each other for four days- what right did she have to tell him what to do?

Besides, her reasoning didn't make sense, he began telling himself. If he dealt with all the small things, he would have no time for the big things, and that would leave him in an awkward position. If he did not attend to larger matters, the leaders of Archenland and Calormen would stop taking him seriously, perhaps even invade. No, her idea was silly, next to impossible. Best not to even consider it.

He called for Lord Drinian before dinner, still seething on the inside.

"Is the Dawn Treader ready to sail?" he asked tersely.

"It could be ready tomorrow," Drinian estimated. "Caspian, what's wrong?"

"I want to go home, and that's all," Caspian said bluntly. "You're dismissed," He said cruelly, turning his back on Drinian and looking out the window. The captain's face fell and he bowed very formally. Something had to be wrong, for Caspian to treat him like this – one didn't dismiss a best friend, king or not.

"As my lord commands," Drinian said levelly, showing himself out. In the corridor, he heard the king growl, and shook his head. Something was most certainly not right.

"I wish you could stay longer," Ramandu said, watching the little figures buzzing around the beach where the Dawn Treader was loading her supplies. "But I suppose if you feel you must return…"

"I thank you for your hospitality, Lord Ramandu," Caspian said starkly. The ship was packed; every single item they'd picked up on this journey was safely stowed inside, the maps from Coriakin and the plans from Deurois, several different types of flowers that Drinian had thought were worth the space, and many other things besides, not to mention four additional Narnian lords. "Narnia will certainly remember the service you have rendered to us." The formal words were tasteless on his tongue, and his mouth was dry – she was here, watching him with that…superior air! "My lady," he said, bowing shortly, "I also thank you for your kindness."

He did not even give her time to respond, setting off down to the beach. Drinian made his bows to the two of them and set off quickly behind his king, wondering privately why Lady Aleybis looked so sad.

Caspian watched the shore as they sailed away from the Island at the World's end, his face one big gray raincloud, and once they were far enough away that they could no longer see Ramandu on the shore, he went into his cabin and resolutely shut the door. Once they were safely adrift and the sailors had their orders, Drinian burst into Caspian's cabin, eyes bright with confidence.

"Are you going to tell me what's gotten into you, Caspian?" he asked, snapping the door shut.

"I am a king of Narnia, and beholden to no one," Caspian said resolutely.

"By the lion's mane, you're stubborn," Drinian exclaimed. "But I'll bring it out of you yet. It's got something to do with Aleybis, hasn't it? You were only barely civil to her when we left. Come on, out with it! What's she said that's got you in such an awful fuss?"

"She was telling me how to run my kingdom, Drin!" Caspian exploded lividly. "I'm a king, a son of kings, raised from birth to rule. I don't need a woman lecturing me on the duties of government!" He shouted, spit flying from his lips.

"Maybe she's right!" Drinian roared, and Caspian looked at him, for a moment very afraid- there had been something of Aslan's roar in his friend's voice. "Maybe she's right, Caspian," he repeated, softer now. "Did you stop to consider that? She's been watching Narnia since the Golden Age, and seen things scholars in our time only dream of seeing. If anyone knows anything about government, it's her." He shook his head and went back to the door. "You're a fool, Caspian, King or not, and a blind fool at that. And I pity you." He shook his head. "By Aslan, I pity you. We'll be home in a month or so, good wind permitting."

A month is a long time to think on one's mistakes, and Caspian had precious little else to do. By the time they arrived at port in Narnia, Caspian was one very sorry king. He'd made a mistake, and, worse fool him, there wasn't any way to fix it. Except, perhaps, to follow Aleybis' advice. He'd promised her he'd find a wife, and that was what he would do…tomorrow.

"First," he told Lord Sevilian, "a hot bath and sleep."

That night, he slept in his own bed for the first time in quite a long time. The experience should have been comforting, but whether without the rocking of the waves or the sounds of the sea, the young king's sleep was very troubled by a dream.

He was in his bedroom, but it was morning, and Aleybis was there. Aleybis? Yes, certainly it was she, sitting by the window, dressed in mourning colors, with a dark veil over her hair. Who would she be mourning? Her father could not have died- he was fed the fireberry every morning, the food of immortality and descending youth.

"You left without properly saying goodbye," Aleybis said, moving from the chair to his bedside, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"You were angry at me," Caspian accused. Aleybis laughed.

"Angry at you? I was not angry at _you_, Caspian, only at your stubbornness, which matches my own at times. You have such a desire to become a great king, and such potential to see that dream succeed, but also many chances to see it fail. I would rather see a great victory for you rather than a great failure. I only wished you could see what would make it better." She stroked his face and smiled sadly, tears leaving little trails on her fair cheeks. "It makes me angry when people do not listen to me, and my anger makes me do strange things."

"Like shove them in front of moving rocks?" Caspian asked, more than a little grumpiness in his voice.

Aleybis gave a short laugh and shook her head. "That was before, not afterwards." Her voice had a funny jolt in it, and had risen in pitch, and her face, it seemed, was wet.

"Why are you crying?" Caspian asked, trying to reach out to her, to comfort her, but he found he could not move his arms. She turned away from him, hiding her face.

"It is not for you to know, Caspian. It was never for you to know. My burden I must bear alone," Aleybis said, drawing away from his bedside. "Farewell, Caspian."

"Don't go!" Caspian cried, trying valiantly to move. "Don't go!"

But she did not hear him- she walked through the door of his bedroom and vanished into the shadows.

* * *

cough No, that wasn't an incredibly convenient problem in there...

Neil: For those of you reading this story, that is what we in the writing business call a 'Deus ex Machina,' or god from the machine. It means that something very, very fortuitous, which could _only_ have been scripted, just happened which changes the outcome of the story.

Ian: Normally, however, it's for the better. There aren't too many cases of Deus Ex Machina problems in literature.

Well, I think I just made one. cowers expecting blows from reviewers

In spite of this, the show will go on...I hope...


	8. Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

Now I should warn you, men start acting like men in the chapters ahead. Our Narnian hero won't necessarily be hanging around with the young and innocent any longer. So if you don't like mentions of the birds and the bees, you might want to stay away.

* * *

"_It is not for you to know, Caspian. It was never for you to know. My burden I must bear alone," Aleybis said, drawing away from his bedside. "Farewell, Caspian."_

"_Don't go!" Caspian cried, trying valiantly to move. "Don't go!"_

_But she did not hear him- she walked through the door of his bedroom and vanished into the shadows._

* * *

Caspian was awoken by his valet Mecertes, who looked as white as a sheet. "My lord, you were shouting in your sleep," the faun said, studying his king cautiously.

"What was I shouting?" Caspian asked suspiciously.

"Don't go," The faun recounted.

Caspian rubbed his eyes and gestured for a candle. "Thank you, Mecertes, for waking me."

"It is not done to dwell in bad dreams, Sire," Mecertes said. "Shall I call for your astrologer? I am certain the centaurs will be able to read your dream."

"No, no," Caspian dismissed the idea, running a hand thorough his hair distractedly. _It made enough sense to me._ "Mecertes, have you ever had a dream that made perfect sense if the person in it were speaking directly to you, inside your head?" He asked. The valet looked a little confused.

"I cannot say I have, sire. Does something trouble you, my lord? Shall I call the kitchens for a soothing drink, some food, perhaps?"

"No, thank you, Mecertes. Go back to bed yourself," Caspian ordered.

It had all sounded like something she would say, Caspian thought to himself, pulling a dressing gown over the shirt he slept in and pacing his room. So she was here, in his room, that meant…that he wanted her here, to talk to him. That was true. And they had discussed their parting, which he was in point of fact feeling guilty about. But she had forgiven him in the dream – he only wished for that in real life. And he wished very much to speak with her again, but he knew that was impossible.

But who was she mourning for? And why did she leave? And why, why was she so lifelike in his dream in the first place?

"By the Lion, this is confusing!" Caspian exclaimed to himself.

"My lord?" Mecertes asked from the adjoining servant's room, his voice a little muffled.

"Never mind, Mecertes," Caspian said, frowning. "Go back to bed." Maybe it would make more sense in the morning.

* * *

"Drin," Caspian asked his best friend as the two broke their morning fast together, " Have you ever woken up from a dream and wished that it were real?"

Drinian considered this, cutting an apple and musing as he chewed a slice. "Yes, many times. Why?"

"What were they about?" Caspian probed.

"Oh, a great many things," Drinian shrugged. "Victories, things I'd said I wanted to take back…women," he added on an afterthought with a rueful smile.

"I've just had a dream about Aleybis this morning," Caspian confided, his brow furrowed, staring into his tea as if it contained the secrets of the universe.

"Oh?" Drinian said, sitting up in his chair. "You weren't –" He left the end suggestively open.

"No," Caspian said dismissively. "No, she was in my room, dressed in black, and she forgave me for acting like I did, but when I asked her to stay, she left. And I couldn't move- I suppose that part of the dream means I really don't want her to love me? I mean, if she had stayed, if I could have made her stay, that would mean my mind really wanted her to stay, right?"

"_Do_ you love her?" Drinian asked frankly.

"I don't know!" Caspian said with an air of general confusion. "As a friend, maybe, but I'm not sure I know what love – what real, genuine, earthmoving love – is."

"Then perhaps you're right in thinking that her leaving the dream is a sign you don't want her," Drinian analyzed bluntly, returning to his apple slices.

"That's settled, then," Caspian assured himself. "Now, Drin, this matter of my wife," he began, his voice trying to sound as if it were relieved of a great weight.

"I've recalled Lord Llyr from the court at Archenland," Drinian said through a mouthful of apple. "Sent the messenger with orders for him to return yesterday."

"You're the best friend a man could ask for," Caspian pronounced.

"Well, it's a hard job being the king's best friends," Drinian said exaggeratedly, "But Llyr and I have to do it. Even if it means traveling back several hundred miles to help him pick out a bride," he added.

Now many of you who know Caspian well will be wondering who this Lord Llyr is, and as sure as there are carts to horses, he'll be introduced in due time. A little explanation, however, is needed first.

Long ago, when Caspian was only a very little princeling, his Uncle Miraz and Aunt Prunaprismia told him in no uncertain terms that as a son of a king he was only to play with the sons and daughters of the lords of the court, the people who would one day become his advisors and councilors. They sent away the tradesmen's sons and the peasant children (who could have taught Caspian a great deal about the people he was going to rule, which in my estimation is more important) and left Caspian with the terribly stuck up sons of all the royal advisors. Among them were only two boys with whom Caspian 

liked to play, and these two boys had grown up into the men who were now the Lord Drinian and the Lord Llyr.

They three were the very best of friends and had slain many dragons and later (when Caspian told them all the wonderful stories his Nurse used to tell him,) conquered the White Witch a dozen times or more. When they were older, they all trained at swords together and confided their first loves and in general did what all young men do with their very good friends. Now, with Caspian King, Drinian was commander of the Navy (for as a child he had dearly loved the sea, a rather sticky point with his sea-scared father) and Llyr was Caspian's envoy to the Archenlanders. Of them, Drinian was the serious and sensible type and Llyr the jovial, joking kind, and Caspian would be very glad to have both with him, for he was sure that this wife-finding business was not going to be easy, and he could use all the help he could get.

* * *

You'll meet Lord Llyr next chapter in more detail, and I have to warn you, he's pretty inappropriate at times.

Ian: We have no idea how Merc came up with this guy, really.

Neil: I think he's fun.

Ian: That's because you're a teenager who appreciates innuendo.

Neil: Your loss, Ian.


	9. Chapter IX

Chapter IX

_Again, for safety's sake- young men will be young men in this chapter. It's a little out of character for the Caspian we're normally presented, and I know that, but I'm not writing this story for little children._

_Also, just to make something clear, Renevulte is the name I've given to the castle the Telmarines have built. Don't ask me why, that's just the name. I was on a Norman kick the other day._

* * *

"Caspian, you rascally old seadog, you! You went on an adventure and didn't bring me along!" A tall, fair haired man accused, coming into the Great Hall at Renevulte Castle where Caspian was looking over plans for road improvements with his councils.

"Lord Llyr, this is all very untoward," Lord Erecole reprimanded, looking more sour than usual.

"It's all right, Lord Erecole, Lord Llyr is a dear friend of mine whom I have not seen in a while," Caspian said.

"But my lord," Erecole began, probably to launch into another one of his diatribes on how Caspian was destroying proper court decorum. Caspian cut him off mid-complaint and dismissed the rest of his attending lords so that he could greet his good friend properly. When they were alone, both men let out a shout of joy and hugged each other like long lost brothers.

"Aslan's eyes, you're tan!" Llyr exclaimed, standing back for a moment to look at his old friend. "And muscled, too, where did this come from?" he asked, his hands on Caspian's upper arms. "You really are a regular old seadog now."

"Well, that's what happens when you sail to the end of the world," Caspian said.

"And now you're back," Llyr said, sitting down and pouring himself a rather liberal gobletful of wine. "I hear that from Drinian that you're in the wife market now and you need my help," he said, waiting for Caspian to sit down. "My question is, what for?"

"What do you mean, what for?" Caspian asked, popping a grape from the lunch repast into his mouth.

"Caspian, you're the king of Narnia. Girls are lining up to marry you. It's not like you need to frighten them out of caves or anything," Llyr pointed out. "Unlike me. Little land, no great title; speaking of which, can you do something about that?"

"We'll see," Caspian said. "I make no promises. But I need to find the right woman first," Caspian clarified. "You can't just go around making any girl queen. I need several…objective opinions."

"Oh, well, if you want objective, I'll be objective," Llyr assured him. "Do I get a chance with any you don't like?" he asked, leaning in close to his friend.

Caspian rolled his eyes. "You'll remember why I sent you to Archenland in the first place, Llyr, won't you?" he asked seriously.

Llyr nodded. "Have no fear of that, my king, my skirt-chasing days are over," he promised. "Well, not really." He amended truthfully.

"Llyr!" Caspian exclaimed.

"No, no, hear me out. I've moved on to married women and single spinsters," Llyr assured him. "Much less trouble than the unmarried ones. And between you and me," he confided, "A lot more fun."

"I'm not sure Caspian wants to hear about your sexual exploits at the moment," Drinian said, seating himself at the table and helping himself to some cold turkey.

"Your loss," Llyr said dismissively. "So, have we got a battle plan, oh wise-and-mighty Caspian the Navigator-of-troubled-waters?"

"I've no idea where to even start," Caspian said.

"I think perhaps making a list of all eligible ladies at court would be a good starting place," Drinian said. "My aunt Jusfilde will be able to help us with that."

"And of course you'll need an extensive calendar of events at which to meet these women," Llyr put in. "And one cannot forget lessons," He added.

"Lessons?" Caspian and Drinian asked at the same time.

"Yes, lessons. In how to court a lady," Llyr said obviously. "From yours truly. Because to tell you the truth, Cas, when it comes to the females of our species, you're clueless…"

* * *

Haha! You have no idea how much fun it is to write the obnoxiously playboyish and still somehow oddly endearing Llyr. The whole rating of this story had to go up because of him.

Yes, kind of a shorter chapter. I apologize. I'm not sure I'm making up for it with Monday's Chapter X, either...


	10. Chapter X

Chapter X

* * *

"Are you ready?" Llyr asked Caspian as they fussed and fidgeted with Caspian's new doublet behind the large drape that stood behind the king's dais. It was the first of the several parties that Caspian and Llyr (but mostly Llyr) had planned out to help Caspian meet his prospective brides.

"I'd be more ready to fight a mountain troll at this point," Caspian said frankly.

"You don't mean that," Llyr assured him. "They're just overprotective mothers and moneygrubbing daughters."

"Well, when you put it like that," Caspian said sarcastically.

"Go on," Drinian said, shoving him towards the divide in the curtain.

The assembled court was dazzling – richly attired dwarves, wearing the acquired riches of centuries past, solemnly discussed the state of the mines and the mountains with Telmarine lords in deep and somberly magnificent midnight blues and moss greens. Centaur chieftains, regally towering above the Telmarines, kept to themselves at the fringes of the hall, talking quietly amongst themselves. A group of ladies were listening with fascination to several of Reepicheep's company of mice telling grand tales of their chief's adventures, while another group of brightly gowned women conversed with a knot of fauns at the height of their playful element. It made Caspian happy to see that after seven years of rule the Telmarines were finally starting to accept the true Narnians as their comrades and allies.

The talking stilled as people noticed Caspian's presence, and the King looked around the room, seeing a _few_ familiar faces in the bustle. A servant presented him a goblet full of wine, and Caspian took it, waiting to address the crowd.

"Go on, Cas, give them a toast," Drinian whispered. "The sooner you start it, the sooner you can leave."

The King nodded, running his finger over the jewel set in the side of his goblet, his mouth suddenly dry. He licked his lips nervously. "We thank you all for your presence here tonight," Caspian began, "And for your wishes for our good health. We have appointed this party to celebrate our return from the Uttermost East, and decree that now should be a time of feasting. We drink this cup to you and to your happiness," He said, taking a little of the wine to his lips.

"To the King!" chorused the company. When the wine had been drunk, the dancing began, and Caspian retired into the crowd, greeting people and shaking hands, smiling and laughing and playing the part of the concerned sovereign.

The party seemed to be going almost too well, Caspian thought to himself as he loitered a bit at the edges of the dance floor, keeping an eye on Llyr, who was dangerously close to violating his agreement with Caspian not to do anything dishonorable.

The good feeling was not to last, for Caspian saw coming towards him a lady he did not particularly relish meeting up with. He glanced quickly around for someone he might engage in conversation, but there was no one.

"My lady," Caspian said, bowing. There was no cure for it but to talk with her.

"My king," Lady Ermalinde said silkily. Per her usual, the resident gossip of Renevulte had defied time and logic once again to look half her age and just as cunning and untrustworthy as ever. "I trust your past few months at home have not been tedious for you. I suppose after months at sea court life must be very boring,"

"I have plenty to occupy my time," Caspian assured her. "The rebuilding of Cair Paravel takes up a great deal of my days, along with…other things."

Ermalinde smiled, the kind of look that tells you the person smiling has something hidden in their sleeves. "We have been hearing a lot of talk on your highness' plans to marry. Are they true, or merely idle rumor? One never knows with gossip," she said, as if she never really listened to gossip at all.

"We are …considering it," Caspian struggled to find the least committal phrasing. Aslan knows what she would do with the real information, if it was given to her.

"That is such good news," Ermalinde said, laying a hand lightly on his arm. "We at court were all so afraid that you might die on your voyage and leave us without an heir," she said, her voice suspiciously flirtatious.

"I thank you for your…concern, Lady Ermalinde. It was most kind of you," Caspian said, trying valiantly to get away. He'd talk to anyone- anyone – just as long as he didn't have to talk to Lady Ermalinde.

"Oh, silly me," Ermalinde said, mistaking Caspian's searching the crowd for despair. "You should be dancing! How is one to find a bride if one does not dance?"

"Indeed," Caspian said distractedly, still looking for his way out.

"Surely it is not for a lack of partners," Ermalinde hinted.

"His majesty has not yet been asked," Llyr put in from behind Caspian, who tried not to look betrayed. _Where were you when I needed you three minutes ago?_ Caspian thought to himself.

Ermalinde was all condescension and niceness now. "Oh, that we have a balm for that! Lirienne! Come here, precious. My neice, you know-- You will pardon her if her manners are a little rough, she is a country girl only lately come to Renavulte."

"I thank you for the offer," Caspian said, fighting against this tooth and nail. "I can't dance with her," he hissed at Llyr.

"She's gorgeous!" Llyr exclaimed in a loud whisper, looking over Caspian's shoulder.

"She's still Ermalinde's neice!" Caspian hissed back. The girl was getting closer; soon there would be no escape but to dance with her, something Caspian wanted to avoid if she was any relation of Ermalinde's. Too late- she was here.

"Never hold the relations of a beautiful woman against her, Caspian, she can't help them," Llyr said subtlety, smiling broadly and turning Caspian around to face this…Lady Lirienne.

She would be called very pretty in some circles, Caspian acknowledged, with elaborately dressed blond hair that hung in virgin-curls down her back and a dress in a fantastic shade of blue that Caspian knew she was only wearing because someone had thought it would be droll to dress as sea nymphs in honor of his return home. Her eyes, which were also a disturbingly vivid blue, also seemed too big to be quite human, and she smelled overwhelmingly of some cloying and exotic flower, probably in another attempt to impress her sovereign.

Ermalinde looked pleased as punch that she'd managed to get the girl this far. Caspian tried not to gag.

"This, your majesty, is my niece Lirienne LeLonde. Lirienne, his majesty Caspian the tenth." Lirienne – even the name sounded too pretty. The King of Narnia withheld a shudder and fixed on his most diplomatic face.

"An honor," the girl said, curseying as low as she'd been taught to. Caspian bowed and offered his arm, leading her into the figure of the dance and giving a single nod to the musicians to play.

She talked through the whole dance, about everything and nothing at the same time – the food and how much she loved it, the journey here from her hometown on the River Rush, the dresses the other women were wearing. Apparently the manners taught in small provincial outposts didn't leave room for questions of his own, and Caspian was forced to keep listening instead of changing the topic to something else less…superficial. Her voice, Caspian decided, was just this shade shy of_ only_ mildly annoying; too lyrical to be natural, it had to be affected, and while that might have worked on some men, it didn't work on him.

And the conversation didn't get any better after that dance—he found himself telling the same stories to what seemed like the same women over and over and over until he wasn't even sure if the tale he was recounting about the dragon they had thought to be the Lord Occtesian was even real any more or just a figment of his imagination, something he'd made up the way some of these women had made up their faces, too fantastic to be true.

"By the Lion, this is hard," Caspian said, gazing off the castle parapet towards the horizon, watching the stars twinkle around the great full orb of a bright summer moon. _And it won't get any easier if you're standing out here,_ that rational part of his head said sharply. _Get back inside and keep looking, Caspian!_

"Oh, all right," Caspian said aloud, turning back towards the Great Hall, taking a liberal sip from his goblet.

"Caspian…" It was a tiny voice, barely above a whisper, but someone had called his name. He turned around, looking back off the parapet, then looking around.

"Is someone there?" He asked, his eyes squinting to search the darkness.

"Caspian…" There it was again!

But there was no one there. It must have been the wind, he decided, the wind and his mind and the wine all playing tricks on him. But part of him wanted someone to be there; the voice had tugged at something in his heart. Caspian shook his head and went back inside, feeling very exposed on the inside.

* * *

At the end of the night, he'd danced with four and twenty different ladies and found none whose company he was able to abide for more than a few minutes at time.

"Well, then pick the prettiest," Llyr suggested the next morning as they lounged on the veranda to account the night's findings.

"That's Lady Lirienne, by far," Drinian said.

"You've got to start somewhere on the list," Llyr reminded Caspian, who had made a sour face and promptly downed his glass of water without pausing for breath at the mention of Lirienne's name, as if he wished to drown himself before inquiring further into her marital state. "It might as well be with the one you won't mind looking at."

Caspian looked at his friend in surprise. "You've really sobered up, haven't you?" He asked.

"Llyr, sober?" Drinian asked. "Now there's a laugh."

"No, no, I mean it! I was expecting him to say it should be the one I don't mind sleeping with!" Caspian said with perfect seriousness. Drinian spit out his drink laughing and Llyr smiled wanly.

"So what's the next step?" Caspian asked, sincerely wishing he could be something or someone else so long as he wasn't king and this silly business of getting married took up so much of his time.

Llyr and Drinian exchanged glances and smiled.

"Why do I not like that look?" Caspian asked aloud, looking from one scheming face to the other and back again. "Why is it that I don't like that look?"

* * *

Because it's the look of a conspiracy, Caspian, the kind of conspiracy that only very good friends can muster against you! But in order for you, dear readers, to find out what it is, you'll have to come back on FRIDAY.

Doesn't everyone just LOVE Lirenne? She's supposed to be a Mary Sue exposed for what she really is- shallow and lifeless and, when it comes down to it, really not that appealing at all, as Caspian's fond of telling you. That'll come out more next chapter.

In other news, I was watching Ever After the other day and decided Older!Caspian looks like Dougray Scott. If you've never seen Ever After, it's worth the time it takes to watch it -- It's a rendtion of Cinderella with Drew Barrymore and a bunch of other people, and it was my favorite movie when I was about eight.


	11. Chapter XI

Chapter XI

The absolutely ridiculous ideas of feminine accomplishment and education are taken, in part, from conceptions put forth by Edith Wharton in The Age of Innocence. If you've never read it, or been too cowed by the awesome name of Wharton often put forth in college American Literature classes, please go with all due haste to your library and get a copy. It's a very accessible read (easy is not the word to use, but it's by no means hard to read, just a little dense) and contains, in my opinion, some of the best prose ever put forth in the English tongue.

* * *

"But of course she will join His Majesty for a walk in the garden," Ermalinde said when Drinian came to the women's guest quarters of the castle, with Caspian following at a discreet distance. "Lirienne, fetch your cloak, there's a good girl. The king would like to take a walk with you."

Lirienne looked positively radiant at the suggestion that her sovereign was showing a marked interest in her; Caspian was sure she'd told all her friends that she'd had the first dance with him, and she'd be sure to tell all her friends about this. He was bringing a rearguard, however, in case she tried anything terrible – several of his councilors, along with Llyr and Drinian, were to follow at a discreet distance, ready to rush in if she tried anything to forward.

Forward thinking, however, was not to be on the agenda today. Lireinne was almost too tame, as Caspian was coming to find out.

They spoke of the new castle at Cair Paravel; she liked what he was doing to it. They talked about some of the new law reforms on Talking Animal rights; she agreed whole-heartedly with him. Caspian asked her about what she thought of the changes he was making to Renevulte; she liked them, as well.

_Is there anything we can argue about? I'm sick of hearing 'yes, milord!_' Caspian thought to himself.

"Do you like to ride?" he asked.

"Oh, no, your majesty, that is far too rough a sport for a maiden of my stature," Lirienne said. "It is not ladylike to ride."

"Well, then, you must have another hobby. Reading, perhaps, or the study of herblore," Caspian suggested. Lirienne shook her head.

"Aunt Ermalinde says that reading corrupts a girl's natural innocence, and should be restrained until after marriage, upon which time she will read only what her husband recommends," Lirienne said as though she were quoting from a book. "And herblore is something only servile people learn. When I am a great lady, I should have no time for things like that."

"What would you have time for?" Caspian asked with a sarcastic bite, sincerely wondering what it was she thought noble ladies did all day.

Too simple to notice his sarcasm, Lirienne answered the question quite seriously. "I would listen to one of my maids read me poetry, and collect flowers in the garden to arrange in my husband's rooms. So that when he comes home the room will smell pleasant," she said sweetly. Caspian nodded and tried not to gag – he pitied the man who came home to a room full of flowers and this woman.

"And if your husband was a great man," Caspian proposed, "in the service of the king, perhaps, and had often to attend to matters of state and perhaps go away to war, would you help him with his work?"

Lirienne looked appalled that he would mention it. "A woman's place is never in a council chamber," she said. "Aunt Ermalinde says if a woman were to help her husband rule terrible, terrible things might come of it, because women are not suited to governance."

"But surely you govern your home?" Caspian inquired, wondering how she might fit running a household of several dozen servants in between the grueling tasks of picking flowers and listening to her love-poems.

"If my husband was rich enough, we would employ a housekeeper," Lirienne assured him. "I know he would not want me to dirty my hands with menial work."

"Indeed," Caspian said, quite out of non-noxious comments for the afternoon.

* * *

"Whoever she marries, I hope he's got a high tolerance for flippancy and a long purse," Caspian said, practically ripping off his restrictive formal clothes and searching his wardrobe for a less elaborate outfit. "She may be pretty, Llyr, but she's got nothing in that head of hers but air."

"I personally find the air-headed ones easier to deal with," Llyr put in blithely. "You can convince them of anything."

"Not now, Llyr," Caspian begged. "She's not even capable of forming an opinion of her own! Every time I asked a question, it was Auntie this and Auntie that. I'm not talking to her Aunt, I'm talking to her! I want to know what she has to say."

"Did she say _anything_ worth considering seriously?" Drinian asked, waiting for Caspian to get ready so they could both attend council.

"No!" Caspian exclaimed. "I need a woman with a strong head on her shoulders, who's not afraid to give me her opinions and reason out affairs of state with me. I don't want a woman who agrees with everything I say!"

"Good luck finding one of those here," Llyr said frankly. "Off to the Cair, are we?" he asked, watching Caspian dress for a ride and extract a heavy, weatherproof cloak from his wardrobe.

"I'm spending the next several days there," Caspian said. "I've got to oversee the construction of the throne room and then I'm meeting with the council to listen to Hebsian and Erecole lecture me on more 

potential candidates. Drinian's coming along too. If I've got to suffer, I'm not going to do it alone." Caspian said with a grimace. "Wish me luck- we might be there all night," he said.

"Good luck," Llyr said whole-heartedly, toasting them on the way out. "Their idea of a good match is probably worse than ours."

* * *

Short, I know, but hopefully I gave you something to laugh at. The next chapters will be a little longer- we're getting to the end of this story very quickly!

Reviews make Neil and Ian very happy.

Ian: Actually, they make Merc very happy, but she thinks we need the encouragement.

:D


	12. Chapter XII

Chapter XII

* * *

The rest of the nearly finished Cair Paravel was empty, but the Council Chamber was one of the only rooms that looked lived in at this point. And it looked more like a storage room than a royal Council chamber, Caspian mused, with the paintings everywhere. Large paintings, small paintings, women in dresses of every shade from mauve to midnight blue, all smiling as alluringly as they could, trying to impress their sovereign. The paint was hardly dry on some of them!

And the rather sad fact was there wasn't one face in this mess he liked any more than the rest; he'd met a few, and their pictures were at the bottom of the still very large pile. Lirenne's, he knew, was at the very bottom; he'd buried it there in the hope that he never had to see her again.

"She should be a rose to grace your majesty's garden- a jewel in the Crown of Narnia," Lord Hebsian was saying in his inexorably annoying voice for the umpteenth time. Couldn't he find anything more original to say? They'd been in this council chamber all night with these portraits and paintings, trying to decide which of the ladies Caspian had been presented with should be his bride, and Hebsian was still thinking of roses and jewels.

"Yes, but I see no roses or jewels here!" Growled Caspian, tossing one picture of the Lady Tasleem of Archenland back onto the pile. "In point of fact, I see no queens at all!"

"Perhaps if your majesty looked one more time," Erecole suggested, but Caspian had had enough.

He stormed out of his council room without another word, leaving Lord Hebsian with his portraits and suggestions to rot. Insufferable little man- Caspian wanted to marry for love, and he loved none of these women! Some were clever, others pretty, others merely rich and powerful. He might have liked a few, but love? That was a far and fierce call from any of these women. He wanted someone he could talk to, and reason out the kingdom's affairs with, someone wise, but also necessarily a little clever. That was something he hadn't seen in any of the women he'd met these past few months. What were they teaching women in Narnia these days? Caspian wondered to himself. Perhaps education reform needed to be on his list of things to do.

"Oh, Aslan, what am I to do? I wish Aleybis were here," Caspian said aloud to the seashore, letting the wind ruffle his hair a little. "She would know. Probably tell me something I haven't already noticed about one or another woman."

"Ah, my young son, is that all you wish?" a soft, commanding voice purred in his ear with a little growl of its own.

"Aslan?" Caspian asked, looking around for some sign of the great lion. The lion on the newel post came alive, its gray stone features animated as it roared, shaking life into its carven mane.

"Is that all you wish, Caspian?" Aslan asked again, looking at him with gentle and wise eyes.

"That's all I've wished for a while," Caspian thought aloud, remembering. "Since this whole thing started. It was nice to have her to talk to and riddle things out with. She seemed to have an answer for everything. She was gentle, and kind, and wise, and…the only person I've ever felt I could really talk to," He realized. "She was my opposite," He said slowly, turning this all over in his mind.

It was true – Aleybis was all the things he wanted in his queen. She was wise and clever, and not afraid to tell him what she thought, and, if she would forgive him, they were friends, and that would make this whole marriage business much less painful. And she was joyful – for Caspian had also realized that not once over these last few weeks had he laughed with a woman simply to laugh because he had enjoyed her company, and not just to be polite. If that was love – finding her company a joyful thing and a balm to sooth trouble times, then yes, he was in love with her, when he thought about it.

"And I was bad-mannered and insolent to her," he remembered sadly. "Drinian was right- I make a pretty poor king, but a first-class fool."

"A fool, Caspian?" Aslan asked. "A little foolish, at times, but not completely a fool. You are, when it comes to Narnia, too passionate for many to truly understand."

"I suppose you're right," Caspian said, nodding. "And proud, too; I've been a good deal too proud."

"I am glad you see that," Aslan said. "I think perhaps a little passion is excusable," he noted, "But pride will rot a man from the inside out. You should remember that, Caspian, if you learned nothing else from your Voyage to the World's End." They stood for a while looking at the seashore, and then Aslan remarked offhandedly "The dawn, you know, is often considered a time of new beginnings. You might remember that this morning, Caspian, if you can."

Caspian looked wildly out at the ocean, slowly turning from deep blue to purple and orange as the sun approached. "The Dawn!" he repeated, his heart suddenly filled with hope. "The seeing hour!"

Suddenly it was all so clear, how he could make things right. He bolted off the terrace, through Cair Paravel's many tunnels and passageways to the toppermost tower in the castle, standing on the roof and staring at the sea. " ALEYBIS!" He cried as loudly as he could. If her name had ever given him power before, he hoped it was the power to call her. "I LOVE YOU!" He shouted over the crying of the gulls, and the waves, hoping for some sign from her, a token that she had heard him, that she had seen. "I WAS A FOOL, AND I LOVE YOU!"

The sound of it made his heart feel free, freer than he had felt this past month, filled with more joy and hope than he had felt in a long time. It was if by saying it he had taken a great weight off of his chest, and he could not help but give a shout of joy. He took a great gasp of breath, smiling at the whipping wind. "I don't care if you hate me forever for what I said, I don't care if you never let me see you again, I love you and… I'll do anything to get you back. And I wish you would be my wife," he finished breathlessly.

The initial joy was wearing off- no sign had come. She did not want to speak with him. He was about to turn away when suddenly, far, far away, on the other side of the ocean, he saw a star blaze bright on the horizon, winking joyfully.

The sight made his heart leap.

Running back inside, he nearly overturned several of his servants and more than several of his councilors scrambling back to the council chamber where Lord Hebsian sat fretting with several of the other members of the council. All of them stood when Caspian dashed back in.

"Lord Hebsian, I've found the woman I want to marry!" He proclaimed, and Hebsian fumbled with his words for a moment, a tad bit lost.

"Oh? And is she…is she noble?"

"Yes, the noblest woman I know," Caspian assured him. "And she is gentle, just, kind, compassionate- and wise, too! She would make the most excellent queen I can think of, and I must have her for my wife."

"What is her name?" Hebsian asked, still squinting at Caspian as though he did not believe him.

"Aleybis, the daughter of Ramandu," Caspian revealed breathlessly.

Hebsian thought about this for a moment, repeating the name softly to himself. "Aleybis…Aleybis. I do not know her," he pronounced. "Can anyone speak to the lady's character besides yourself?"

Caspian cast around the room, trying quickly to think of someone: this all had to be done more quickly than the law probably allowed. "Drinian! Drinian has met her!"

"Who?" Lord Drinian, roused from his half-nap in his council chair, looked a little confused before he nodded as Caspian mouthed "Aleybis!" from across the room several times. "She is, my lord, all that my Lord King says she is." He tried to stop a yawn, failed, and then went on. "And more besides- her father, Lord Hebsian, is a star." Hebsian was too addlepated to do anything besides nod – Caspian doubted even he in all his years had ever met a star.

"Well, arrangements must be made," Hebsian began, "Emissaries sent, and gifts exchanged. The proper traditions, you know, must be upheld."

"Well then, uphold them! Go! Make preparations to return to the Beginning of the End of the World!" Caspian shooed away some of the lesser lords and sat back down in his chair, sighing with delight and relief. "Drinian?" he asked, and the sea-lord turned back to his king's seat. "When we were at sea you called me a blind fool. Why?"

Drinian chuckled sleepily. "Anyone could have seen she was in love with you then, Caspian. You just didn't want to see it yourself." He began for the door again.

"Drin?"

The lord turned around a second time. "Caspian?" he asked.

"Thank you," Caspian said. "For calling me a fool. I deserved it."

"Many men often do, Cas," Drinian said with a smile, trapsing off to find his bed before he fell asleep standing up.

* * *

I love Drinian. He's playing Olivier to Caspian's Roland, I just realized the other day. Well, this was a short and sappy chapter. But all's well that ends well, isn't it? And I"m not quite done telling the story just yet.


	13. Chapter XIII

Chapter XIII

* * *

Caspian was almost too excited for sleep- he was full of manic energy, pacing to and fro, trying to accomplish everything at once and when it was said and done, accomplishing nothing at all. Finally, however, his body had to concede exhaustion, and he fell into bed sleeping as soundly as a newborn.

He dreamed he was in a great white palace, in an empty throne room, looking out on the ocean with the gulls crying. Everything seemed far away- there were no courtiers, no servants, not even the remote bustle of daily business.

"Silly Caspian, wandering in dreams again," a voice said behind him. "Is his heart ever truly on the ground?"

Caspian turned to see Aleybis, standing behind him, smiling. She was dressed the same way she was when they had first met, a gown of gray with stars on her brow. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

"A place that has not yet been built," Aleybis said. "This is to be Castle Cair Paravel, when you finish it."

"I thought you said you could not see the future," Caspian teased.

"I am not the one seeing it," Aleybis said. "You are."

"So why are we here?" Caspian asked, looking around the great white room.

"To talk," Aleybis said. "We have not talked in a long while," she said gravely.

"I am sorry for what I said before," Caspian said quickly. "It was rash, and rude, and completely out of line, and –"

"You were forgiven before you asked," Aleybis said. " But it will not be so again," she teased him. "That, however, is not what we are meant to talk about."

"Meant?" Caspian wondered aloud.

"Aslan is the keeper of Dreams, Caspian, as well as the son of the emperor across the sea. It is his right to let some walk unhindered in the dream-land of Narnia-as-it-should-have-been, in his country. He and his Father the Emperor Across the Sea control our fates as you might control your armies or I my servants. And it has always been His wish that we should marry. It has been written down since the dawn of time on the great rolls that govern all men's lives."

Caspian was stunned. "Why then did he not say something of it, when I left? Surely he would have stopped me from leaving and had us married then and there."

"I asked him not to," Aleybis admitted.

"Why?" Caspian was so confused now that if he'd been awake his head might have been spinning.

"I did not want you to love me unless it was what you wanted, not what someone ordered," Aleybis admitted.

"It would have been Aslan ordering me! I would have obeyed!" Caspian insisted.

"Yes, but you would not have been truly happy with yourself," Aleybis said quickly. "You are never happy when decisions are made for you, Caspian, and I do not think you would ever have deeply, truly loved me unless you found your own way to it. I have given you that chance, and, thankfully, you have taken it." she looked away, as if the saying of it shamed her.

"Aleybis, is something wrong?" Caspian asked, studying her face. He could see now that she was thinner, and less radiant- her hair had lost some of its shine and her skin was as pale as ice. "Have you been sick?" he asked, taking her hand only to find it mortally cold.

"I have," Aleybis admitted. "Heart-sick. Such becomes of those who defy the Deep Magic."

"For how long?" Caspian asked, his old guilt at having left so callously coming back to haunt him.

"Since you left the World's End," Aleybis said. "It was my punishment for going against what is written in the great book. But I asked for it to be done to me, and I endured it. For you," she said.

"Why?" Caspian asked, amused and still confused by her decision. "Why, my star, why?"

"Because I knew with time, I knew you would realize I was your opposite,"Aleybis said, shaking her head. "And because I am as stubborn as you, Caspian, and I _wanted_ to do it," she said finally.

"That was not very wise of you," Caspian pointed out. Aleybis laughed wearily, as if hearing a joke she'd heard too many times before.

"So I've been told."

Caspian smiled and held her hand close to his chest – how thin it seemed, where once it had been strong. But it would be strong once again, Caspian resolved. But something still troubled him.

"In the first dream you were crying," Caspian said. "Couldn't you have asked me then? You would have saved us both a lot of bother."

"Oh, Caspian," Aleybis said, stroking his face fondly. "Then you would have loved me out of pity, which is worse than being told to do it and is no love at all."

"Oh," Caspian said, rather embarrassed for even mentioning.

"But I did call you, once," Aleybis recalled. "When I thought the pain was more than I could bear, I shouted for you."

"I heard you!" Caspian said wonderously. "One night as I looked out at the sea, I heard someone call my name, but there was no one there."

"That was me," Aleybis confirmed. "Love can bridge even the widest seas to be with the one it yearns for."

"You yearned for me?" Caspian asked, his heart touched to the core. "It must have pained you to see with the others."

"It was not so bad," Aleybis admitted. "In truth, it made me happy to see you with your friends. And I knew that you were not without your own pain," she added.

"I was?" Caspian asked, surprised at this. If he'd been in pain, he thought he should have remembered it.

"There was a dull ache in your heart for something you could not name," Aleybis explained. "I watched it trouble you, and knew the Deep Magic was working on you as well. Finally when it had done its work Aslan came in to clear up the mess."

"I was a mess," Caspian remembered. Had that really only been several hours before? "But you are better now?" Caspian asked, returning to the original question, very concerned. He didn't want anything to happen to her; the desire to protect her, shield her from everything was overwhelming.

"I was better when you called for me," Aleybis said, looking at him with a faint smile.

"You glowed for joy," Caspian recounted, "And it warmed my heart. It had turned cold without you," he confided. Aleybis laughed.

"The guise of the poet does not suit you, Caspian. Now wake, and act upon your dreams," she said, gently kissing him on the lips. He closed his eyes to taste her lips, and then, when he opened them again, he was back in his bedroom, and the light from the window was blinding him.

* * *

Let us assume, for the purposes of debate, that much of what Aleybis says in this chapter is me, the author, talking. I went against what is written in the great rolls that govern my characters lives. I have wracked my brain hoping that you, my readers, will not hate me too much for it. So far, you haven't, for which I am thankful.

Let me re-iterate something I told many of you in your confusion over the last time Caspian had a dream -- Aleybis isn't there. She is meeting Caspian in Narnia-As-It-Should-Have-Been, the dream realm. That's why it seems so real -- in the Future Narnia, everything seems to be a fuller version of things the person seeing them already knows.


	14. Chapter XIV

At the behest of Mohrotar, who said that Llyr needed reforming after we met him in chapter 9, a simple scene between two friends. We'll get to the wedding NEXT chapter, I swear!

* * *

So you've decided, then," Llyr said at luncheon; he'd ridden from Renevulte that morning for the express purpose of seeing if his two friends had survived the night, and he found them both in excellent, if fatigued, spirits. "Aslan give you joy."

"Thanks, Llyr," Caspian said. "You'll be a part of my wedding party, won't you?" he said.

"And miss the chance to meet all her beautiful handmaidens? Not on your life!" Llyr exclaimed.

"Now, Llyr, it's my wedding you're talking about. My wife needs a good impression of my friends," Caspian admonished. "You can behave yourself for one evening, at least. Until she gets to know you."

"Caspian, I'm joking," Llyr said seriously, looking his friend in the eye. "To tell you the truth, I've been joking for a while now."

"What?" Caspian asked, very confused again.

"All the things I've been saying about wooing girls and…chasing married women. It's all been a lot of nonsense, really. After that…incident with Lady Veris…Well, in Archenland I just didn't want to risk upsetting you anymore. I missed not being at Renevulte and having my friend to talk to and I didn't fancy spending the rest of my life in exile after looking for a little fun. And besides, they watch their women like hawks down there." Llyr gave a weak chuckle and looked at his boots, as if he were ashamed to admit to this. "I'm not getting any younger, and, well… fatherhood's starting to look…appealing."

Caspian looked at his friend in wonder. "You've met someone, haven't you? Oh, I knew Archenland would be good for you! Tell me about her. What's she like?"

Llyr struggled for a moment with his words, starting and shrugging. "She's…well…I don't know where to start. Her father's one of the King's advisors, so I see her a lot in Anvard. They grow dates on their estate outside the city – the best dates you've ever tasted. I was over to dinner at their house once, and mentioned it, and she gave me the sweetest look I'd ever seen before in my life (and I've seen a lot of sweet looks, Cas, you know that ) and told me if I liked them she'd send me a basket. And she did. And I've been a little distracted ever since. I didn't think I'd ever be, die a confirmed bachelor with a horde of bastard children, but…she was so quiet and calm. And I liked it," Llyr confessed. "It was refreshing. We sat under the trees and just talked, and I liked it."

"Aslan's mane," Caspian said wonderously. "You're really serious."

"Of course I'm serious, Caspian! Would I joke about a thing like this? This is the rest of my life we're talking about here!" Llyr exclaimed.

"Well, you were very quick to bandy with mine, you know," Caspian pointed out.

"I'm just a man, Caspian. I suffer a bad marriage and all I can do is complain. You're a king; you suffer publicly and everyone sympathises with you and offers to kill your wife," Llyr said dourly, making his friend laugh.

"You can always complain to me, Llyr. That' s what friends are for," Caspian pointed out.

"Thanks, Cas." Llyr nodded, and then said. "I knew it was getting high time for me to clean up my act, anyway; Drinian told me about your Lady and from what he says, she's a regular lioness herself!"

"Why did Drin call her a lioness?" Caspian asked, curious.

"He said she chewed you up on the duties of a king, spat you out and wiped the floor with your poor proud corpse," Llyr elaborated mannerlessly. "Which I would have paid good money to see, actually, so I'm very sad she didn't send out invitations first."

"Actually, in a manner of speaking that is what she did," Caspian considered. "A lioness, really and truly. You'll like her, Llyr, I really think you will."

"Of that I have no doubt," Llyr assured him. "Anyone that can put my friend the King of Narnia in his place is Queen enough for me. I thought I should take myself off the market before she finds a mate for me, someone docile and friendly who she thinks will be able to put up with my wandering ways," Llyr added carelessly. "Marriage to the king's best friend, I'm sure it's a post that'll get plenty of inquiries once she's established herself," he added, sounding a little dismayed. "Inquiries from women like Lirenne." He looked at Caspian. "I've heard she's been packed off to Galma after her little failure to launch herself at your party."

"Good riddance! I'm glad to know she won't be fluttering around here anymore. And I'm sure we can find a dukedom for you somewhere," Caspian said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Does the Lantern Waste suit? Or would you prefer somewhere southerly, where you and your lady love can grow dates and bask in the shade of the palm trees?"

"Caspian, are you…are you serious? A Dukedom?" Llyr asked, surprised.

"Well, I did promise to do something if you helped me. And I think you should be rewarded for taking my advice seriously on cleaning up your act," Caspian added, with the air of a father rewarding a prodigal son who has just redeemed himself.

"Duke Llyr of the Lantern Waste…Well, it's nice, Caspian, but is there something closer to the Cair? I'd like to think that our children could grow up together."

Caspian thought about this. "There's a tract of land southeast of the River Rush, along the seashore; it's very heavily wooded now, but I'm sure if we asked the trees very nicely some of them would relocate and consent to your building a house there, and a few ports; we'll need ships and things to go to the Seven Isles. Duke Llyr of Southwood, how does that sound? It's not desert, I know, but…"

"We can always get a hothouse, or something of that nature," Llyr considered. "Duke Llyr of Southwood. I like it. Guilinar will like it."

"That's her name?" Caspian asked. "Guilinar?"

Llyr nodded. "It means sweet pomegranate, if you want to know. Although let me assure you she looks nothing like a pomegranate and hopefully never will."

"I thought you were expecting our children to play together!" Caspian accused. "I think a little rotundity is required for that!" he jested, laughing.

"This is my future wife you're joking about," Llyr said with a shove, laughing with his friend. A small and rather juvenile battle of shoving ensued, ending when both men toppled to the floor and Caspian shouted his surrender.

"I yield! I yield! Pray accept my apologies on behalf of your lovely lady Guilinar."

"Apologies accepted," Llyr said seriously. They lay on the floor for a while in silence, and then Llyr spoke again, considering something. "You know what this means, don't you?" He said, looking up at the ceiling and then at Caspian. "Now that both of us will be getting married."

"What?" Caspian asked, sitting up.

"We're going to have to find someone for Drin."

Caspian threw his head back and laughed. "Now that'll be a challenge! She'll have to be fluent in four—no, five—languages,"

"Play several musical instruments," Llyr supplied. "Dance divinely, know philosophy and possibly a little politics,"

"And she'll need to be sufficient in other womanly arts," Caspian said with his finger aside his nose, winking. Llyr made a disgusted face and sighed theatrically.

"Aww, Cas, that's a joke I would have made! Poor taste, man, poor taste!"

* * *

Friendly fluff. It makes my heart glow. You know what else makes my heart glow?

**_Reviews._**


	15. Chapter XV

Chapter XV

* * *

The day of Caspian's arrival across the seas at to the Beginning of the End of the World was as bright and clear as a man could wish for. The new ship Caspian had commissioned, the _Star Promise_, waited at the newly restored harbor alongside the rest of the flotilla that had accompanied her across the ocean, its swan shaped prow gently rising and falling in the water like that other great ship of old, the vessel that the great Navigation Star the Mariner pilots through the sky. Caspian waited on the quay as the crew scuttled to and fro.

"Are you ready, Caspian?" Aslan asked from beside him, watching the young king look up through the forest at the great high castle of Ramandu; the great lion had accompanied the Narnian flotilla to assure safe and speedy passage across the ocean.

"I think so," Caspian said, giving his bridal tunic one last tug to try and make it look perfect. They began walking the path to the castle, his retinue following a respectful distance behind.

"You have heard her side of the story," Aslan began.

"Why did you let her do what she did? Defy the Deep magic and all that?" Caspian asked.

"That matter is between my Father and I, Caspian, and not for you to know," Aslan said. "But I will tell you this -- it was in part because she trusted that you would come to know of the love eventually." Aslan moved his head and growled a little, pausing to scratch behind his ear. "And she was prepared to accept the consequences of her actions. I thrive on trust, as I thrive on faith. You should never forget that trust, Caspian. It is the mark of the truest love there is." He commanded him.

"I will not," Caspian promised, listening raptly to the Lion's instruction. Aslan continued.

"When you return to Narnia, you will have many challenges and trials, but you must not, Caspian, try to conquer them on your own. Aleybis will be your helpmate, to share the burden with you. It is her right and her wish to do this, and you cannot violate it."

"I have needed her help since she first gave it," Caspian acknowledged.

"And you will need it still, in the days to come," Aslan cautioned. "As she will need yours. And both of you will need to remember to take the help when it is offered," he said with an air of experienced tolerance.

They were at the gates to Ramandu's house now- Aslan's table was set for a magnificent wedding feast, and all the creatures of the wood were gathered to meet Caspian the King. Caspian looked at Aslan, smiling as the doors opened and Ramandu came out, leading a lady on his hand. It was Aleybis, as tall and noble as ever, wearing a gown of the most brilliant white and a crown fashioned of many stars tumbled together. She was also glowing softly, her eyes cast down demurely. Slowly, however, she raised her face.

When their eyes met, Caspian's heart leapt for joy, and as he watched, Aleybis smiled, the glow around her become immense, almost blinding. Ramandu placed his daughter's hand in Caspian's, patting their clasped hands and smiling.

"I see you've found how to become a true star," he whispered to her, leaning in close. "Can I expect that every time you see me?" he asked with a smile. Aleybis laughed.

"It is love, Father tells me, that makes stars glow the brightest," she confided. "I promise I will not try to blind you all the time."

"And how long have you loved me, Lady?" Caspian asked, looking into her eyes.

"Since I first saw you in your mother's arms," Aleybis whispered.

"Not so long, really?" Caspian chuckled, but Aleybis nodded.

"It was told to me that I would marry you on the day you were born. I have watched you well since then."

"I never stood a chance," Caspian joked, holding her hand to his lips and kissing it.

"May we begin?" Aslan asked, looking at the assembled company, beast and man alike. Caspian and Aleybis nodded, holding each other's hands very tightly.

"My people, we have gathered here to celebrate a union that will, with its love, bless all of Narnia. For when a king is happy, so too are his people happy, and if a king's life is filled with joy, so then also are his people's lives filled with joy. Caspian," Aslan said, "I am giving you a flower, more precious and beautiful than any the earth will yield you. Guard it with your life and your love. Aleybis," he said, turning towards her, "I am giving you a mighty tree, such as the earth will never see again. Protect it from storms and let it grow in your love. What I have bound together, let no man separate!" Aslan said with a loud voice, finishing his blessing with a roar that filled the sky.

At that moment, a dozen dryads set forth a shower of petals from their arms upon the company, and Caspian leaned over to kiss his new bride. "To be fair," Caspian whispered to her through the cheering and shouting, "I think of you more like a jewel than a flower."

"Because I am more long lasting, my king?" Aleybis asked, her smile full of laughter as he lead her back to the _Star Promise_, which would bear them home to Narnia.

"Well, yes, but what crown cannot use a star in it?" Caspian asked her with mock seriousness, and Aleybis laughed aloud.

"A jewel in your crown, King Caspian? How quickly you deride me!" She jested with him.

"Ah," said Caspian, kissing her again, "But it's a jewel I'm going to keep and treasure for a long, long time."

So it was that Caspian the Tenth of Narnia married Lady Aleybis the Star's Daughter under the watchful eyes of Aslan, and they were borne back over the sea to Narnia to be King and Queen there. They reigned many years in peace and comfort, and had many adventures, including waking up the rest of the dryads who had been asleep since the Telmarines took over, and exploring the land beyond the Lantern Waste, which was quite different from the land before it.

Those, however, are tales for different times, and this story is not principally concerned with adventures, but with love (although I am sure there are a great many stories out in the wide world that combine the two). As such, I will restrict myself to telling only one last story.

The great castle at Cair Paravel (which, you will remember, King Caspian began to rebuild after his return from the Uttermost East,) was in an uproar as it had been for the past several months, waiting for a very important guest to arrive. The king was most anxious and distraught about it, for he was afraid a great many things would go wrong, and he was pacing up and down a corridor wondering if everything necessary for the important visitor's arrival was ready and waiting.

Finally, there was a strange cry, not quite human and sounding a little bit like a squalling cat, and Caspian stood stock still. A serving woman ran out of one of the rooms into the hallway, clumsily curtseying for Caspian and proclaiming proudly,

"My Lord has a son!"

Yes, it was indeed the arrival of King Caspian and Queen Aleybis' firstborn that had been expected, and Caspian was overjoyed to hear the news. He anxiously pushed past the midwives and servants to reach his wife's bedside, where his queen sat, tearstreaked and just as beautiful as ever, holding in her arms a little bundle of white cloth, which she was cooing at.

She looked up at her husband and patted the bed beside her, letting him sit down to see his son. Gingerly, she handed the baby over, and Caspian was overwhelmed – such a small little thing, with such big eyes! Eyes, he might have noted, that were a brilliant, starry blue, a testament to his mother's heritage.

"How do you like your son, Caspian?" Aleybis asked, studying her husband.

"It would be impossible not to love him," Caspian pronounced. "But he is so small – I cannot see him holding a sword, or commanding my armies…" he said, handing the child back to his mother.

Aleybis laughed, a sound that made the infant smile. "Give him time, Caspian. He will grow. And besides, husband, Narnia has not had a standing army since we were married. Hopefully he will not need to know war."

"Hopefully," Caspian repeated. "I will let you two sleep now," he said, brushing his son's cheek with a single finger and smiling at the warmth of his skin. Aleybis smiled and leaned up to kiss her husband on the cheek.

Caspian kissed her back and left to tell the rest of his kingdom, giving orders for fireworks and cannon salutes and parades to be held – after, of course, the Queen and the new little Prince had slept a little. He was so busy with his planning and preparations to celebrate his son that he did not notice the sun creeping back down to its own bed, and the stars slowly creeping up to their houses in the night sky.

He wandered back to his bedroom when a servant reminded him of the hour, and, seeing his wife asleep, crept to the balcony to watch the stars.

"It has been a long day, Caspian. You should come to bed now," Aleybis said, rising to join him by the window. Apparently she had not been as asleep as he thought.

"You don't want to start on the next one so soon, do you?" Caspian asked, looking over his shoulder at his wife, who laughed.

"I didn't mean that kind of bed, my lord husband," she corrected pertly, wrapping her arm around his own. For a while they both stood in silence, watching the stars twinkle.

"Have you thought of a name for him?" Caspian asked, wondering aloud. "Caspian the Eleventh sounds like rather a trial."

"I was thinking of Rilian," Aleybis confided.

"Rilian?" Caspian asked, a little cautious. "That's a name I've never heard before."

"That's because I've made it up, silly goose," Aleybis said. "See the star there – the great winking blue one, to the right of the Navigation Star?"

"I do," Caspian affirmed, snaking his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him.

"That is King Ril, one of the Mountain King's huntsmen, a great warrior. He is at his zenith tonight, and I thought we could name our son after him, since, after all, you wish him to be a great warrior, like his father is."

"Ah," said Caspian, considering this with a smile, "But he shall have to be a great scholar, too, so he can listen to his mother tell him all these star stories about where his name comes from."

" To Rilian, then," Aleybis said, kissing her husband lightly on the lips in salute.

"To Rilian, my son, and to my queen, who has produced for me another mighty jewel," Caspian said, kissing her fiercely as behind them, the whole company of stars glimmered and glowed with joy in the nighttime sky.

* * *

Finis.

You may all proceed to clap the curtain down now. Yes, it's over, done, finished! You no longer have to read this sappy muck anymore! I hope you all liked my little quasi-epilogue there, but Rilian screamed and bit my ankles and begged to be included, so the little tyke gets a cameo appearance. Innit he cute? And his parents, aren't they wonderful,too?

Well, folks, that's the end of the Author's noes. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you. Thanks for flying Mercury Gray Storylines -- We know you have a lot of options when reading these days and we're glad that you've chosen us. We hope that we'll continue to receive your support and business in the future. Thanks, and have a great day!


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